The head of the World Health Organization said Monday the coronavirus pandemic has been “easily the most severe” international health crisis the agency has ever seen.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference in Geneva that the pandemic “continues to accelerate.”
“In the past six weeks, the total number of cases has roughly doubled,” Mr. Tedros said.
He explained that the United Nations-backed agency is expected to gather its emergency committee this week to address the ongoing crisis.
Mr. Tedros said that while notable efforts have been made in countries around the world, there is a “long, hard road ahead of us.”
There have been more than 16 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Nearly 650,000 have died and 9.4 million have recovered.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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