MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge is not ruling out the possibility that the coronavirus can become a seasonal infection.

He underlined that coronaviruses belong to the same group as influenza viruses. "So, in that sense it could become seasonal," he noted. "My principle is, because I am an optimist, I hope for the best, but I prepare for the worst."

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed 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 world.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 32,800,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 994,000 deaths have been reported.