The global COVID-19 death toll crossed past 1 million mark on Tuesday with many countries still reporting surging numbers of new infections, reported The BBC.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide has topped 1 million, with over 33 million confirmed cases and more than 23 million recoveries.
The number of deaths reported in the United States, Brazil and India make up nearly half that total. The US has reported about 205,000 fatalities followed by Brazil on 141,700 and India with 95,500 deaths.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the 1 million global deaths from the COVID-19) an agonizing milestone that has been made worse by the savageness of the disease.
“Yet we must never lose sight of each and every individual life,” Guterres said in a statement. “They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease.”
The UN official warned that there is no end in sight to the spread of the COVID 19 virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to people’s lives. He said the pandemic could only be overcome with responsible leadership, cooperation and science, as well as precautions such as social distancing and wearing face masks.
The development comes nearly 10 months after the coronavirus emerged in China’s Wuhan. The first death related to coronavirus was recorded in China in early January. The pandemic has spread to 188 countries so far with more than 32 million confirmed cases. Lockdowns and other measures undertaken to stop the spread of COVID 19 virus have thrown many economies into recession.
While efforts to develop an effective COVID 19 vaccine are continuing, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the death toll could reach two million before any vaccine is widely available, most probably by next year.
