Story at a glance
- The number of COVID-19 cases has grown exponentially over five weeks.
- It has reached nearly every country, territory and area on the planet.
- The number of deaths is likely to hit 50,000 in the coming days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday it’s “deeply concerned” about the “rapid escalation and global spread” of the coronavirus that has infected more than 900,000 and left more than 45,000 dead.
“Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new COVID-19 cases, reaching almost every country, territory and area,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday during a news briefing.
“The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week. In the next few days we will reach 1 million confirmed COVID-19 case, and 50 thousand deaths,” he said.
China, where the outbreak first emerged in late December, reported decreasing numbers of new infections Wednesday and disclosed the number of asymptomatic cases for the first time.
The United States is currently leading the world in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. doubled since Thursday, surpassing 200,000 with more than 4,500 deaths.
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Health officials in the U.S. this week said they are considering whether or not to recommend the general public wear masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Tedros addressed the ongoing debate about the use of masks at the community level.
“WHO recommends the use of medical masks for people who are sick and those caring for them,” Tedros said. “In these circumstances, masks are only effective when combined with other protective measures. WHO continues to gather all available evidence and continues to evaluate the potential use of masks more broadly to control COVID-19 transmission at the community level,” he said.
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