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Global coronavirus situation worsening, says WHO chief

The WHO chief recalled that more than 100,000 new cases had been reported daily in the past nine days

GENEVA, June 8. /TASS/. Although the coronavirus situation in Europe is improving, it is worsening globally, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

"Almost 7 million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO, and almost 400,000 deaths," he told a briefing. "Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally it is worsening."

The WHO chief recalled that more than 100,000 new cases had been reported daily in the past nine days. On Sunday, this number exceeded 136,000 in a single day. "Almost 75% of yesterday’s cases come from 10 countries, mostly in the Americas and South Asia," he noted. "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."

"We also see increasing numbers of cases in parts of Eastern Europe and central Asia," he added. "At the same time, we’re encouraged that several countries around the world are seeing positive signs."

He said that "complacency" is the biggest threat in these countries. "We 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," he stressed.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 7,100,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 406,300 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 3,466,500 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.