WHO chief issues warning as Asia suffers massive Covid-19 spike

GENEVA – WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Covid-19 cases have been on the surge and urged countries to continue vaccination drives.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus raised yet another warning regarding a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases.

Raising concern over a possible coronavirus wave, the WHO chief said that Covid-19 was spreading once again, especially in parts of Asia.

Ghebreyesus reiterated that the pandemic was not over and asked people to continue taking serious note of the same.

Ghebreyesus was speaking in a media address on Wednesday when he asserted that the Covid-19 cases have been on the surge.

He said that the reported cases of coronavirus were once again rising, especially in parts of Asia, despite being on the decline for several weeks.

The WHO chief further added that the reported cases were only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as the Covid testing were low in some countries.

“After several weeks of decline, cases of Covid-19 are increasing, especially in parts of Asia. These increases are occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg. And we know that when Covid19 cases increase, so do deaths,” the WHO director general said in his media address.

“We call on all countries to remain vigilant. Continue to vaccinate, test, sequence, provide early care for patients and apply common-sense public health measures to protect health workers and the public,” the WHO chief said while urging nations to complete vaccination drives.

The comments from the health organization head comes after fresh Covid cases tally jumped over eight per cent in the past one week. According to the WHO, the number of Covid deaths fell by over 17 per cent, despite a rise in infections. In a cautionary note, WHO added that many countries are changing their Covid-19 testing strategies despite the pandemic still going on.