Geneva, August 3: The world has witnessed a rapid increase in coronavirus in the past few months. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of COVID-19 cases increased almost five times in the last three months, while the death toll tripled in the same period. COVID-19: Recent Global Spikes Due to 'Young People Letting Down Guard', Says WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus.

WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said, "Number of cases globally has increased more than 5-fold to 17.5 million & the number of deaths has more than tripled to 680,000 since WHO's emergency committee on #COVID19 last met three months ago." Herd Immunity Against COVID-19 Not an Option Before Country of India's Size, Says Health Ministry.

Statement by Tedros Ghebreyesus:

Ghebreyesus also expressed hope to have a number of effective vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He stated, "A number of vaccines are now in phase-3 clinical trials & we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection." However, the WHO chief added, "There's no silver bullet at the moment & there might never be."

Globally, close to 20 million people have contracted COVID-19 so far. More than 600,000 people also succumbed to the deadly virus until now. The United Nations is the worst-hit country followed by Brazil and India. In the US, close to five million cases. The COVID-19 death toll also crossed 150,000-mark.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2020 06:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).