GENEVA: The World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm on Wednesday over a global spike in COVID-19 cases, despite reduced testing and several weeks of declining infections.
WHO said cases are especially on the rise in parts of Asia, urging for vaccination coverage to be extended and caution to be exercised in lifting pandemic response measures. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing that globally increasing cases despite reduced testing “means the cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg.”
He added: “Continued local outbreaks and surges are to be expected, particularly in areas where measures to prevent transmission have been lifted.” According to Maria van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, more than 11 million cases have been reported to WHO in the last week. This is an eight-percent increase on the previous week.
