The World Health

Organization (WHO) says the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak may only just be

starting.

Head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus, said, “The virus is actually starting and will wreak more havoc”,

according to a Bloomberg report.

The global health body’s head of

health emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, said, most countries are in the middle

of the first wave, with the risk of a second wave present for any country

exiting lockdown.

Further, Ryan said he’s concerned by

the “upswing” in the Southern Hemisphere, and Tedros said the pandemic is

accelerating in low- and middle-income countries. It’s most active in the

Americas, and governments need to give clear and consistent messaging about it,

Tedros said. Ryan said there’s no guarantee any vaccine will arrive in time.

“We have never seen something like

this since 1918,” Tedros said, adding that Europe could see a resurgence of

cases even as numbers have been dropping recently. “No one is safe until

everyone is safe.”

The coronavirus has infected 7.6 million

people worldwide and killed more than 420 thousand.