Corona still extremely dangerous: WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Geneva : The World Health Organization's (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that COVID-19 was still "extremely dangerous", though countries were seeking to return to normal as social isolation measures have helped slow the spread of the deadly disease.

"The pandemic is far from over," Xinhua new agency quoted Tedros as saying at a virtual press conference. "The WHO continues to be concerned about the increasing trends in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and some Asian countries."

He called on countries to continue aggressive tactics against the pandemic, saying "as lockdowns in Europe ease with declining numbers of new cases, we continue to urge countries to find, isolate, test and treat all cases of COVID-19 and trace every contact, to ensure these declining trends continue".

The virus remains "extremely dangerous", Tedros reiterated, adding that early evidence suggests that most of the world's population was still susceptible, which means epidemics can easily re-ignite.

Tedros also said that countries should have listened to the agency after it declared a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" on January 30, when there were 82 cases outside China and no deaths, the BBC reported. "The world should have listened to WHO then, carefully," he said.