International
COVID-19 pandemic far from over, WHO warns as nations relax lockdown orders
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic was far from over.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus gave the warning in a statement on Monday in response to the easing of COVID-19 lockdown by major countries of the world.
He said, “As lockdowns in Europe ease with declining numbers of new cases, we continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue.
“But the pandemic is far from over. WHO continues to be concerned about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries.
“As in all regions, cases and deaths are underreported in many countries in these regions because of low testing capacity.
“We are continuing to support these countries with technical assistance through our regional and country offices, and with supplies through Solidarity Flights.
“In the past week, we have delivered supplies to more than 40 countries in Africa, and more are planned.
“Globally, WHO has shipped millions of items of personal protective equipment to 105 countries, and lab supplies to more than 127 countries. We will ship many millions more in the weeks ahead, and we’re preparing aggressively,” he said.
READ ALSO: Jonathan begs international community to help Nigeria, others procure COVID-19 test kits
The novel coronavirus disease, which started in China last year December, has infected more than three million people and killed at least 210,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In the United States (US) alone over 56,000 people have died so far as a result of the virus, a figure that represents more than a quarter of all deaths worldwide.
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