Nation/World News Support Local News. We've been with you throughout the pandemic, the vaccinations and the reopening of schools, businesses and communities. There's never been more of a need for the kind of local, independent and unbiased journalism that The Day produces. Please support our work by subscribing today. COVID experts warn: 'The world needs a reality check' Nurse Susan Hinck gives Richard Thornton a coronavirus vaccine July 10 in Springfield, Mo., where hospital wards have filled with COVID-19 patients. (Photo for The Washington Post by Christopher Smith) Published July 18. 2021 1:19AM | Updated July 18. 2021 1:45AM Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post Maria Van Kerkhove, a World Health Organization epidemiologist, was in her Geneva office last weekend preparing for a keynote address when a simple phrase came to mind. She had been pondering the dismaying rise in coronavirus infections globally during the previous three weeks, reversing promising trends of late spring. The surge came as people across much of the Northern Hemisphere were moving around again in a suddenly freewheeling summer - as if the pandemic were over.