Global Coronavirus Cases Plateauing Except In Southeast Asia - WHO

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2021) The number of coronavirus cases recorded globally has been levelling off in most regions, save Southeast Asia, the head of the World health Organization said on Monday.

"Globally, we are now seeing a plateauing in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with declines in most regions including the Americas and Europe, the two worst-affected regions," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

He added this was an "unacceptably high" plateau, with over 5.4 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 90,000 deaths reported last week.

"And cases and deaths are still increasing rapidly in WHO's South-East Asia region, and there are countries in every region with increasing trends," Tedros stressed.

He said countries should not be lulled into a false sense of security. Many nations relaxed restrictions on public life too quickly in the past year, he said, only to lose their hard-won gains.

He appealed for donations to WHO's mission in India, which is seeing an unprecedented new wave of the virus.

The WHO boss also complained about inequitable vaccination driving transmission in poorer countries and lower-middle income countries, which had received 17% of the world's vaccines.

Tedros estimated that rich and upper-middle income countries received the remaining 83% despite accounting for 53% of the global population.