Global cases of COVID-19 jumps to 17.23 million; death toll crosses 670,000
COVID-19
With some countries battling the possibility of a second wave of coronavirus, and some still struggling with containing the first wave, the number of coronavirus cases seem to be increasing at an alarming stage.
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Data compiled by Johns Hopkins University show more than 17 million cases worldwide since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the total number of cases stood at 17,237,642, while the fatalities rose to 671,909, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
The World Health Organization (WHO, on Thursday issued a statement warning young people and urging them to stay home and stay safe.
“We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: young people are not invincible,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing in Geneva.
The fears of possibility of second wave have even forced some countries to reimpose travel bans and prepare for another complete lockdown if need be.
According to Tedros, the spike in coronavirus cases is “driven in part by younger people letting down their guard during the northern hemisphere summer."
Maria Van Kerkhove, a top WHO epidemiologist, told the same briefing that nightclubs were “amplifiers of transmission”.
“The majority of young people infected tend to have more mild disease. But that’s not always consistent,” she said.
(With inputs from agencies)