Pandemic has not peaked yet: WHO

London: The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, said that the Coronavirus pandemic is accelerating and that it had not reached its peak yet.

The WHO chief said that while there has been progress in reducing deaths, many countries have implemented targeted actions toward the most vulnerable groups. "While the number of deaths appears to have levelled off globally, in reality some countries have made significant progress in reducing the number of deaths, while in other countries deaths are still on the rise," Adhanom said.

The outbreak is accelerating and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic.

The emergencies chief of the WHO said the coronavirus is continuing to gain pace globally.

Noting the marked increase in the number of confirmed cases being reported in the past five or six weeks, he warned that a spike in deaths could be soon to follow.

"In April and May, we were dealing with 100,000 cases a day," said Dr Michael Ryan during a Tuesday press briefing. "Today we're dealing with 200,000 a day."

Ryan said the number of COVID-19 deaths appeared to be stable for the moment, but he cautioned that there is often a lag time between when confirmed cases increase and when deaths are reported due to the time it takes for the coronavirus to run its course in patients.

Ryan also dismissed the idea that the significant jump in cases was due to more widespread testing and, said, "This epidemic is accelerating."

He says he hopes the collective knowledge gained about effectively treating COVID-19 patients helps keep the death rate relatively low, but that can't be guaranteed.

"We've only really experienced this rapid increase in cases over the last five to six weeks," Ryan said. "So I don't think it should be a surprise if the deaths start to rise again." (With PTI Inputs)