UN chief says 'world has reached agonising milestone' as COVID-19 death toll crosses 1 mn

As the number of COVID-19 deaths worldwide topped one million, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the toll ‘an agonising milestone’. In a statement released after the global death toll from the pandemic crossed one million, Guterres said that the ’mind-numbing figure’ has been made worse by the ‘savageness of this disease’. According to Johns Hopkins University, the deadly virus has infected over 33 million globally and more than 23 million patients have been recovered. 

Guterres said, “Our world has reached an agonizing milestone: the loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease”. 

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He added, “And still there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives. We can overcome this challenge. But we must learn from the mistakes. Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters - and misinformation kills”. 

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COVID-19 outbreak 

Meanwhile, even though the death toll crossed one million, the figure is still believed to be uncertain because of inadequate testing and reporting and suspected concealment by some countries. The deadly virus first appeared in late 2019 in patients hospitalised in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the first death was reported in January. Since the outbreak, China’s government has come in for criticism that it did not o enough to alert other countries to the threat. 

Leaders across the globe have been scrambling to contain the spread of the virus. While parts of Europe are now experiencing the second wave, leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, have repeatedly dismissed the severity of threat and guidance of scientists, even though hospitals are filled with gravely ill patients. The virus has forced trade-offs between safety and economic well-being and it has also left millions of people vulnerable, especially poor, minorities and the elderly. 

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