Speaking at the media briefing on COVID-19, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted on June 8 that that the number of new daily cases worldwide had hit a new high on Sunday, a sign that the pandemic appeared to be worsening.
According to him, almost 7 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and almost 400,000 deaths.
“Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening,” WHO director-general noted.
He told old reporters that more than 100,000 new cases had been reported on nine of the previous 10 days, and that Sunday’s tally — 136,000 cases — was the highest single-day tally so far.
“Almost 75% of yesterday’s cases come from 10 countries, mostly in the Americas and South Asia.”
“Most countries in the African region are still experiencing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, with some reporting cases in new geographic areas, although most countries in the region have less than 1000 cases,” said Dr. Tedros. “We also see increasing numbers of cases in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.”
“At the same time, we’re encouraged that several countries around the world are seeing positive signs. In these countries, the biggest threat now is complacency. Results from studies to see how much of the population has been exposed to the virus show that most people globally are still susceptible to infection,” WHO director-general said.
According to him, they continue to urge active surveillance to ensure the virus does not rebound, especially as mass gatherings of all kinds are starting to resume in some countries.
