As you will know, over the weekend
we crossed 100,000 reported cases of covid-19 in 100 [countries].
It's certainly travelling, that so many people and countries have been affected
so quickly.
Now that the virus has a foothold in so many countries,
the threat of a pandemic has become very real.
But it would be the first pandemic in history that could be controlled.
The bottom line is we are not at the mercy of the virus.
Of the four countries with the most cases, China is bringing its epidemic
under control and there is now a decline in new cases being reported
from the Republic of Korea.
Both of these countries demonstrate that it's never too late to turn back
the tide of the virus.
The rule of the game is never give up.
I'll repeat that.
The rule of the game is never give up.
We're encouraged that Italy is taking aggressive measures
to contain its epidemic, and we hope that those measures prove effective
in the coming days.
Let hope be the antidote to fear.
Let solidarity be the antidote to blame.
Let our shared humanity be the antidote to our shared threat.