MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. The international community has learnt to control the pandemic in six months since the world first faced coronavirus, but it is now impossible to outline when it will subside, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Russia Melita Vujnovic said Tuesday.
"We have six months’ worth of experience in countering coronavirus. Today, we can manage the pandemic," she noted. "There is not an immunity layer yet, therefore, we cannot talk about the end of pandemic."
"We are concerned by the fact that the number of coronavirus cases in the region of North Africa and Middle East has topped one million," the WHO envoy underscored. "Therefore, everywhere where there are populations that still have not faced the virus, we can expect an increase in cases. Measures will be needed there to curb the spread."
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 10,429,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 508,400 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 5,689,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.