The COVID-19 pandemic is "a long way from over" but there are many reasons to be optimistic and it's possible the pandemic can be brought under control "within months", the head of the UN health agency said on Monday.
Although January and February saw six consecutive weeks of plummeting COVID-19 cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief said that had gone into reverse, with last week yielding "the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far".
Lower your risk from #COVID19 by combining these 5⃣ precautions:
1⃣ Wear a mask 😷
2⃣ Clean your hands👐
3⃣ Keep physical distance 📏
4⃣ Cough/sneeze away into your elbow 💪
5⃣ Open windows as much as possible 🪟
We are #InThisTogether to beat #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/eFRNDXc8Fc
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 12, 2021
"We have now seen seven consecutive weeks of increasing cases, and four weeks of increasing deaths", Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists at a regular media briefing.
Keep physical distancing
More than 780 million doses of vaccine have now been administered globally, but several Asian and Middle Eastern countries have seen large increases in infections, he said.
While acknowledging that vaccines are "vital and powerful" instruments, the WHO chief reiterated that they are not the only tools needed to defeat the coronavirus.
