Warning that most countries are still in the early stages of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated on Wednesday that virus will persist for a long time to come.

"Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases. Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time," he reportedly stated in a virtual briefing. "Early evidence suggests most of the world's population remains susceptible. That means epidemics can easily re-ignite," he further added. Tedros also mentioned that the world cannot and will not go back to the way things were before the pandemic. "People in countries with stay-at-home orders are understandably frustrated with being confined to their homes for weeks on end. People understandably want to get on with their lives, because their lives and livelihoods are at stake. That's what WHO wants too. And that's what we are working for, all day, every day. There must be a "new normal" – a world that is healthier, safer and better prepared," he said. Regarding US President Donald Trump's move to cut off WHO's funding from the United States, Pedros said, "I hope the freezing of the funding will be reconsidered and the US will once again support WHO's work and continue to save lives. I hope the US believes that this an important investment, not just to help others but for the US to stay safe also."

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 186300 people and infected over 2669900 people across the world. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. As the death toll and overall cases began rising rapidly across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency and the outbreak has now been labelled a pandemic. A total of 1683 cases have been registered in Tamil Nadu so far, while 21774 cases have been confirmed across India. Tamil Nadu has reported 20 deaths while 699 people have succumbed to the illness across the country.