The US has the potential to become the new coronavirus epicenter — as the country is seeing a “very large acceleration” in infections, a World Health Organization official warned Tuesday.
A staggering 85 percent of new COVID-19 cases reported over the past 24 hours were from Europe and the US, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters.
Forty percent of those infections occurred in the US, Harris said.
When asked whether the US could become the new epicenter, she said, “We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the U.S. So it does have that potential.”
“[The US has] a very large outbreak and an outbreak that is increasing in intensity,” she added.
A total of 46,450 coronavirus cases had been reported in the US by Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
China, where the outbreak first began, still accounts for the largest number of total cases — 81,588 — but the rate of infections has significantly slowed there and the two-month lockdown will be lifted in the city of Wuhan.
Italy is the new epicenter, with 63,927 cases, followed by the US.
The infection is also rampant in Spain and Germany, with 35,212 and 30,081 cases respectively.
Globally, 387,382 deaths and 16,767 deaths have been reported.
At a Geneva press briefing Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said “the pandemic is accelerating.”
“It took 67 days from the first reported case to reach 100,000 cases, 11 days for second 100,000 cases, and just four days for the third 100,000 cases,” he said.
With Post Wires
