World grapples with Covid-19 as number of cases nears 2 million

What began as a mysterious pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China, late last year has morphed into a global health crisis that has threatened health systems and economies alike.

The coronavirus has infected nearly 2 million people around the world, nearing a grim milestone that exposes the difficulty of trying to contain the pathogen. Covid-19 has already claimed more than 123,000 lives worldwide.

Hospitals in New York City, which have been especially hard hit by the coronavirus, are still struggling with an influx of Covid-19 cases. (AFP photo)

What began as a mysterious pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China, late last year has morphed into a global health crisis that has threatened health systems and economies alike.

It took about four months for the virus to infect 1 million people, on April 3, and just over a week for that number to almost double.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday the coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than swine flu.

“We know that it spreads fast, and we know that it is deadly, 10 times deadlier than the 2009 pandemic,” he said.

In Canada, where the outbreak made a slow start, the death toll has now surpassed the worst-case scenario presented by the government last week.

China in vaccine race

China has reportedly approved two new potential vaccines for human trials, adding that one more vaccine developed by military scientists was allowed on Tuesday to proceed to the second stage of clinical trials.

The two new vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.