Surge in global COVID-19 cases due to simultaneous peaking: WHO

GENEVA: Dr Michael Ryan, Emergencies Chief, World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the number of COVID-19 cases are rising because the pandemic is peaking simultaneously in some big and populous countries at the same time, reflecting a change in the global activity of virus.

He added that the virus has established itself very well as several countries have noted increase in hospital admissions and deaths and increased testing can’t explain either of the two. The situation was “definitely accelerating” in a number of countries, including the US and others in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the premier health organisation said.

WHO has recorded a single-biggest daily jump in coronavirus cases across the world, with a total of 183,020 in a 24-hour period. So far, there are over 8.9 million cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with over 468,000 deaths.