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| WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rise in cases was "disappointing but not surprising" and urged countries not to relax measures to fight the disease. (Photo from thewirehindi) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] The number of new coronavirus infections globally rapidly increased last week for the first time in seven weeks, the World Health Organization said on Monday (Mar 1). "We need to have a stern warning for all of us: that this virus will rebound if we let it," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical lead for COVID-19, told a briefing. "And we cannot let it."
Reuters reported that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rise in cases was "disappointing but not surprising" and urged countries not to relax measures to fight the disease. It’s too early for countries to rely solely on vaccination programs and abandon other measures, he said: "If countries rely solely on vaccines, they are making a mistake. Basic public health measures remain the foundation of the response."
Tedros noted that Ghana and Ivory Coast became the first countries on Monday to begin vaccinating people with doses supplied by COVAX, the international program to provide vaccines for poor and middle-income countries. Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, said the global fight against the coronavirus was in a better state now than it was 10 weeks ago before the roll-outs of vaccines had begun. But it’s too early to say the virus was coming under control.
