Coronavirus pandemic is accelerating as cases eclipse 350,000, WHO says
PUBLISHED MON, MAR 23 202012:03 PM EDTUPDATED MOMENTS AGO
Berkeley Lovelace Jr.
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Noah Higgins-Dunn
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William Feuer
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GP: Coronavirus World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gestures during a daily press briefing on COVID-19 virus at the WHO headquaters on March 2, 2020 in Geneva.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
The coronavirus pandemic that’s spread to nearly every country in the world is picking up pace, the World Health Organization said Monday, as global cases eclipsed 350,000 and deaths soared past 15,000.
“The pandemic is accelerating,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing from the organization’s Geneva headquarters. “It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for second 100,000 cases, and just four days for the third 100,000 cases.”
Tedros said he’ll be asking the G20, the international group of government and central bank leaders, to ramp up production of personal protective equipment for doctors and nurses and to avoid placing export bans on the life-saving gear.
“We need unity among the G20 countries who have more than 80% of the global GDP,” he said. “If we don’t prioritize protecting health workers, many people will die because the health worker who could have saved their lives is sick.”