The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned the worst could be still to come as the Covid-19 pandemic was speeding up and was far from over, reported the BBC.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the global coronavirus pandemic is spread fast even as countries continue efforts to eliminate its threat.
“We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives,” said Tedros. “But the hard reality is: this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up.”
However, the WHO chief said the lack of national unity and lack of global solidarity was actually helping the virus spread. The remarks come marking the six-month anniversary of the outbreak.
“I’m sorry to say that, but with this kind of environment and conditions we fear the worst,” Tedros said.
His message remained “Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine”.
More than 10 million cases have been recorded worldwide since coronavirus emerged in China late last year. The number of deaths has crossed 500,000 mark.
Notably, half of the world’s coronavirus cases have been reported in the US and Europe but Covid-19 is rapidly growing in the Americas. The virus is also spread fast in South Asia and Africa, where it is not expected to peak until the end of July.
The WHO chief also urged more governments to follow the examples of Germany, Japan, and South Korea, the countries which have been successful in keeping their coronavirus outbreak in check through policies that included rigorous testing and tracing. He noted that the virus still posed a huge threat globally, and that no country should relax their response.
The international health body is also planning to send a team to China to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in the hope of being better able to fight the spread of coronavirus.
