Guterres: Coronavirus Pandemic is 'Out of Control'

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic is “out of control,”.

Guterres called for global solidarity in making a future vaccine affordable and available to all, noting that it must be seen as a “global public good.”

“The virus is the No. 1 global security threat in our world today,”  the U.N. Secretary-General told reporters.

There are nearly 30 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide and over 936,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Guterres spoke ahead of Tuesday’s start of the U.N. General Assembly annual debate, which typically draws more than a hundred presidents, prime ministers, and other senior officials to New York each year.

This year, leaders will send pre-recorded video messages, and side meetings will be held virtually due to the pandemic.

The United Nations Secretary-General stated that he will appeal next week for full implementation of his March 23 call for a global cease-fire by the end of this year so all attention could be focused on defeating the virus.

As scientists around the globe race to find an effective vaccine, Guterres cautioned that “there is no panacea” for the pandemic.

“A vaccine alone cannot solve this crisis, certainly not in the near term. We need to massively expand new and existing tools that can respond to new cases and provide vital treatment to suppress transmission and save lives, especially over the next 12 months,” he added.

Guterres expressed concern that conspiracy theories and misinformation are spreading about a future vaccine, which could deter vast numbers of people from being inoculated.

It is worth mentioning that the novel coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan, China, and has infected more than one million people and killed over 234,139 worldwide. It also hit several celebrities and top political figures around the world.

The virus is a new member of the Coronaviruses group, which was never identified in humans. The viruses’ family also includes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV), which cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases.

In December 2019, an outbreak was reported in Wuhan, China. On 31 December 2019, the outbreak was traced to a novel strain of coronavirus, which was given the interim name 2019-nCoV by WHO, it was later renamed SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

On March 11, WHO declared coronavirus a global pandemic as the new virus has rapidly spread to more than 800,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

Transmission of viruses between humans happens when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s secretions, such as droplets in a cough.

Coronavirus can also be transmitted by coming into contact with something an infected person has touched and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

It is known that older people appear to be more vulnerable to the effects of the emerging virus.

The virus caused complete paralysis in all activities and events with large gatherings worldwide due to concerns over the spread of the virus.

People across the globe partake in self-isolation for 14 days as an effective precautionary measure to protect those around them and themselves from contracting COVID-19.