Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. This Thursday marks six months since WHO declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern.
This is the sixth time a global health emergency has been declared under the International Health Regulations, but it is easily the most severe.
Almost 16 million cases have now been reported to WHO, and more than 640,000 deaths. And the pandemic continues to accelerate.
In the past 6 weeks, the total number of cases has roughly doubled. When I declared a public health emergency of international concern on the 30th of January – the highest level of alarm under international law – there were less than 100 cases outside of China, and no deaths.