“The origin and extent of the epidemic in China is under investigation,” said WHO (File)
Geneva:
More than 100 cases of the new coronavirus have been officially registered in a new outbreak in Beijing, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday.
As the lockout restrictions are relaxed and European countries have lifted their borders, WHO has warned countries to remain alert for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections.
The United Nations health agency said it understands that no new deaths have been reported so far in the Chinese capital, but added that given the size and connectivity of Beijing, l The epidemic was a source of concern.
“Even in countries that have demonstrated the ability to suppress transmission, countries must remain alert to the possibility of a resurgence,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. Virtual.
“Last week, China reported a new cluster of cases in Beijing, after more than 50 case-free days there. More than 100 cases have now been confirmed.”
“The origin and extent of the epidemic is under investigation.”
The virus appeared in Wuhan, China in late 2019. Since then, it has reduced local transmission to almost zero as the crisis hit the rest of the world.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical officer for COVID-19, said at the press conference in Geneva: “As far as I understand, no deaths have been associated to date” with the epidemic from Beijing.
China investigation
WHO Emergency Director Mike Ryan said countries that have implemented immediate and full dissemination of measures have generally been able to contain new clusters.
“However, Beijing is a big city and a very dynamic and connected city, so there is always a concern,” he said.
“And I think you can see this level of concern in the response from the Chinese authorities, so we are monitoring this very closely.”
He said WHO has offered its help and support to the Chinese authorities conducting the investigation, and that it may strengthen its own team in Beijing in the coming days as the investigation develops.
“A cluster like this is a concern and needs to be investigated and monitored – and that is exactly what the Chinese authorities are doing,” said Ryan.
The new coronavirus has killed at least 433,000 people and infected more than 7.9 million since its first appearance in China last December, according to a count of official sources compiled by AFP.
Tedros said it had taken more than two months for the first 100,000 cases to be reported – but in the past two weeks, more than 100,000 cases have been reported to WHO almost every day.
Almost 75% of recent cases come from 10 countries, he said, mainly in the Americas and South Asia.
However, there have been an increasing number of cases in Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, he added.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
