January 14, 2021: The second year of the coronavirus pandemic could be more difficult than the first one over the transmission dynamics, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme Michael Ryan said.

"We are going into the second year, this could be tougher given the transmission dynamics and some issues we see," Ryan said during a Q & A session on late Wednesday.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 92.1 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 1.97 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.