UN chief says world must ‘learn from mistakes’ as virus deaths top 1 million
(Update 1 adds comments from UN secretary general in pars 1-7, minor edits)
Washington DC, Sep 28 (EFE).- The United Nations secretary general on Monday said the world must “learn from the mistakes” after the number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide passed 1 million on Monday.
“Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic,” António Guterres said in a statement. “It’s a mind-numbing figure. Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life.”
“They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues,” said Guterres, who also highlighted that “the pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease” with families kept away from the beds of the sick and, in many cases, unable to say goodbye or mourn.
Although he added there “is no end in sight to the spread of the virus,” he said that the challenge can be overcome, “but we must learn from the mistakes.”
“Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters – and misinformation kills.”
He urged the world to save lives by wearing masks, keeping physical distance, and washing hands.
“As we remember so many lives lost, let us never forget that our future rests on solidarity – as people united and as united nations,” he finished.
Earlier Monday, the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 around the world reached 1,000,825, with the US topping the list with 205,062, followed by Brazil with 142,058, and India with 95,542, according to Johns Hopkins University’s independent count.
The top four countries for the most deaths, including Mexico with 76,603, make up more than 50 percent of the global total.
The total number of infections worldwide has reached 33,279,488, the university calculated, with COVID-19 cases in the US totaling 7,147,751, followed by India with 6,074,702, and Brazil with 4,745,464.
On the other hand, the university indicated that more than 23 million people have recovered from COVID-19 globally, with India leading the way with 5,016,520 patients who have overcome the infectious disease, followed by Brazil with 4,197,372 recoveries, and the US with 2,794,608.
The latest figures provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday indicated that global COVID-19 cases have surpassed 33 million after more than 302,000 new infections were recorded in the previous 24 hours, while the death toll had reached 996,342 and is expected to reach 1 million in the next few days.
Data from the agency showed that the Americas account for around half of the cases worldwide, with 16,360,122, while 6,810,494 confirmed cases have been recorded in second-placed Southeast Asia.
Europe is in third place with 5,725,150 cases recorded since the start of the pandemic, followed by Eastern Mediterranean with 2,357,703 cases and Africa with 1,175,812 cases, according to the WHO.
The Western Pacific region is the least affected in the world, with 604,576 COVID-19 cases detected.
It is widely suspected that the actual numbers are higher than those that have been confirmed and recorded. EFE
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