If any of your readers were under any misapprehension of the seriousness of the current coronavirus pandemic, surely they will now understand following the recent world figures released by Worldmeter on Sunday, September 27 – the pandemic has now claimed one million lives around the globe, with more than 33 million positive cases recorded.

The virus has now spread to 210 countries and territories.

However, the true number of deaths and infections is likely to be far higher due to a lack of sufficient testing and reporting in many countries.

Europe, which emerged as an early epicentre of the virus, is now battling a second resurgence as the continent enters the winter months, with governments and citizens grappling with the prospect of renewed curbs on people's freedom.

Although there have been other epidemics which haven’t claimed one million lives, the above figures prove that the present crisis is up there amongst pandemics of past years.

In 1889-1890 one million people died from a flu which spread from Russia across Europe.

There was a massive epidemic during the period 1918-1920, when Spanish Flu struck, and an estimated 500 million from the South Seas to the North Pole died from this flu.

More within living memory, the Asian flu of 1957/58 had its roots in China and claimed more than one million lives.

Finally, the Aids pandemic and epidemic in 1981 to the present day has already claimed 35 million lives since first identified.

Clive Barrett
Newbridge-on-Wye

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