The World Health Organisation chief on Monday warned that the coronavirus pandemic is ‘speeding up’ and the worst is yet to come, stating that the situation will further worsen globally.

Director-General of the Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during an online briefing, said that although many countries have made progress, the COVID-19 crisis is ‘far from over’ and the worst is yet to come with 10 million cases now, and half a million deaths.

‘We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over,’ Tedros as quoted by the media.

Stating the importance of contact tracing, the chief said that it is the most important step in curbing the spread of the infection, and the countries that are failing to do so have no excuse.

‘Trust me, there are not too many even in a world situation. If contact tracing helps you to win the fight, you do it, even risking your life,’ he added.

He said that although having a vaccine will be an essential long-term tool, there are priorities that every country must focus on, to save lives now.

One way that could be done is by empowering communities and insisting people take as many precautions as possible, including physical distancing, hand hygiene, covering coughs, staying home if one feels sick, wearing masks, and only sharing information from reliable sources.

He also mentioned that unless countries don’t address the problems that are already identified by WHO, the virus will continue to spread.

The organisation will be sending a team to Wuhan next week to investigate any new potential animal source of the virus.

As per the latest update by Worldometer, a total of 10,429,986 have been reported globally, with 508,803 deaths so far and 5,691,950 recoveries.

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