There has been a lot of talk about COVID-19, and what one can pull from it is that the effects of the disease have had arguably more impacts than the disease itself, since the ensuing shutdowns to economies around the world have forced debts to come due and exposed long-standing weaknesses in the global economic system. It will be a trend to watch the effects from COVID-19 on this and how as the infection spreads, it will cause more powerful economies to break away from weaker ones, and how that can affect long-term political stability.
It is of interest then, that the AP reports from the World Health Organization that ten percent of the world may have been potentially infected with the virus.
The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization said Monday its “best estimates” indicate that roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus — more than 20 times the number of confirmed cases — and warned of a difficult period ahead.
Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking to a special session of the WHO’s 34-member executive board focusing on COVID-19, said the figures vary from urban to rural, and between different groups, but that ultimately it means “the vast majority of the world remains at risk.” He said the pandemic would continue to evolve, but that tools exist to suppress transmission and save lives.
“Many deaths have been averted and many more lives can be protected,” Ryan said. He was flanked by his boss, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who minutes earlier led a moment of silence to honor victims as well as round of applause for the health workers who have strived to save them.
Ryan said southeast Asia faced a surge in cases, Europe and the eastern Mediterranean were seeing an increase in deaths, while the situations in Africa and the Western Pacific were “rather more positive.”
“Our current best estimates tell us that about 10 percent of the global population may have been infected by this virus,” Ryan told attendees from member governments who make up the executive board and provide much of its funding. (source)