Photo courtesy Word Health Organization/Facebook
An anniversary today of what was first identified as “pneumonia of unknown cause.”
It was on this day, one year ago, that the first cluster of cases of what would later be called COVID-19 appeared in China.
World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says it triggered the fastest and most wide-reaching response to a global health emergency in history.
“The hallmarks of this response have been an unparalleled mobilization of science, a search for solutions and a commitment to global solidarity,” says Dr. Tedros. “We saw how acts of kindness and care help neighbours through times of great struggle, but we also witnessed how acts of malice and misinformation cause avoidable harm.”
The WHO later labelled the outbreak a pandemic.
The latest figures show there have been 81,159,096 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide since with 1,791,246 related deaths.
In Canada, there have been 565,506 cases with 15,378 deaths.
Dr. Tedros does see light at the end of the tunnel.
“And we will get there by taking the path together. WHO stands with you. We are family, and we’re in this together.”
Dr. Tedros says the challenge for 2021 is ensuring vaccine is available to poorer countries of the world.
