One million COVID-19 deaths 'a very sad milestone', but virus suppressable: WHO

[September 29, 2020]    GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that one million deaths from COVID-19 was "a very sad milestone", after many victims suffered "a terribly difficult and lonely death" and their families were unable to say goodbye.

Roberto Arias prepares a grave for burial at Woodlawn Cemetery during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Everett, Massachusetts, U.S., May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

The global coronavirus death toll rose past a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, a grim statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live.

"So many people have lost so many people and haven't had the chance to say goodbye. Many people who died died alone... It's a terribly difficult and lonely death," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. "The one positive thing about this virus is it is suppressable, it is not the flu."

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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