World Mourns 1 Million Coronavirus Deaths
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Authorities say the world’s coronavirus death toll crosses one million, causing grief worldwide.
The influential Johns Hopkins University estimates that nearly half of the one million people who died of COVID-19 are in the United States, Brazil, and India.
Some experts claim the cited death toll is almost certainly a vast undercount because of inadequate or inconsistent testing and reporting.
However, The figures did not indicate how many victims had severe underlying medical conditions. Critics, including doctors, have expressed concern about confusion on that issue. They also cited the danger of panic and the negative impact of government-imposed lockdowns and other measures.
However, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called the reported one million coronavirus victims in a world population of 7.8 billion people still “an agonizing milestone.”
INDIVIDUAL LIFE
He said that the “loss of one million lives from the COVID-19 pandemic” is “a mind-numbing figure.”
Yet, “We must never lose sight of each and every individual life. They were fathers and mothers, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, friends, and colleagues. The pain has been multiplied by the savageness of this disease,” Guterres stressed in a statement.
“Risks of infection kept families from bedsides. And the process of mourning and celebrating a life was often made impossible. How do you say goodbye without holding a hand, or extending a gentle kiss, a warm embrace, a final whispered ‘I love you?'”, the U.N. leader exclaimed.
“And still there is no end in sight to the spread of the virus, the loss of jobs, the disruption of education, the upheaval to our lives.”
One million is also greater than the population of Jerusalem or Austin, Texas. More than four times the number of people killed by the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
DYING CONTINUES
The bleak milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, also comes nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy.
And medics report more people are dying daily of coronavirus complications, shrouding families and communities in grief in almost every corner of the world.
Yet, a World Health Organization spokeswoman said there was some good news: this virus is “suppressible.” U.N. Secretary-General Guterres agrees. “We can overcome this challenge. But we must learn from the mistakes. Responsible leadership matters. Science matters. Cooperation matters — and misinformation kills,” Guterres said.
“As the relentless hunt for a vaccine continues — a vaccine that must be available and affordable to all —let’s do our part to save lives,” he urged the world. “Keeping physical distance. Wearing a mask, washing hands.
As we remember so many lives lost, let us never forget that our future rests on solidarity —as people united and as united nations.”
The pandemic has tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics, and forced multitudes to change how they live, learn, and work.
But the coronavirus crisis also sparked calls for prayers ranging from evangelical leaders to Pope Francis and calls for solidarity with those mourning their loved ones.
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