코로나19 팬데믹 선언 6개월...확진자 2,800만 명•사망자 90만 명 넘어

Today marks exactly six months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Six months later, global cases have topped 28 million, deaths have surpassed 900-thousand... and countries around the world are still suffering from the disease.
Our Kim Jae-hee has the wrap up.
Just over two months after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan, China at the end of December, the WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic.
"We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic"
Half a year later, the virus has infected more than 28 million people globally, and killed over 900-thousand.
The number of deaths has increased by a whopping 100-thousand in just around 20 days after reaching 800-thousand on August 22nd.
By country, the U.S. still has the largest number of both confirmed cases and deaths.
India, which surpassed Brazil a few days ago to have the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world, has been reporting the most new infections globally over the past few weeks.
Europe, which had seen the spread of infections slow down, is again seeing cases rise in countries like France, Italy, England, and Spain.
Meanwhile, uncertainties surround the development of vaccines.
Scientists are warning against fast-tracking vaccine trials as AstraZeneca, one of the leading vaccine developers, announced it's pausing stage three human trials, after one participant showed signs of a potentially serious adverse reaction.
"I think this is a good, perhaps a wake-up call or a lesson for everyone to recognize the fact that there are ups and downs in research, there are ups and downs in clinical development and we have to be prepared for those."
The situation in China, on the other hand, seems to have significantly improved.
The country has reported zero local infections for 26 days in a row.
A recovery much of the rest of the world fails to share, with many still suffering from the widescale spread of the virus and the devastating economic fallout that follows.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.