Coronavirus has infected about 10% of the world’s population, Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, said Monday.
It varies from region to region, Ryan said at a WHO Executive Board meeting.
“Our current best estimates tell us that about 10% of the global population may have been infected by this virus,” Ryan said.
“This varies depending on country, it varies from urban to rural, it varies between different groups. But what it does mean is that the vast majority of the world remains at risk,” Ryan added.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 35.3 million people have been diagnosed with coronavirus globally, but WHO and other experts say that is almost certainly an enormous undercount. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases in the US are also undercounted by at least 90%.
With a global population of about 7.7 billion people, Ryan’s estimate would mean about 770 million have been infected — but most have not been diagnosed or counted.