The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that one million deaths from Covid-19 is “a very sad milestone”, after many victims suffered “a terribly difficult and lonely death” and their families were unable to say goodbye.

The global coronavirus death toll has risen past a million, 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 UN briefing in Geneva. “The one positive thing about this virus is it is suppressable, it is not the flu.”