WHO stress necessity of continuing COVID-19 tests

Chinese authorities block a road during the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, China. (Archive – Egypt Independent)

Egypt Independent

The World Health Organization has expressed concern in relation to the sharp decline in the number of COVID-19 tests. The remarks were made at a press conference at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday.

Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged the world to continue monitoring Coronavirus infections. “The world has become blind about how the virus spreads due to the low rates of examinations”, Ghebreyesus stressed.

“At a time when many countries are reducing COVID-19 tests the World Health Organization continues to receive less information about transmission and evolution of the virus”, Ghebreyesus to the press conference.

He explained that the WHO database is receiving less and less information than before on infections and genetic sequencing tests. “But this virus will not just disappear because countries will stop detecting it. It is still spreading, mutating and it is still killing”, the director warned.

Ghebreyesus explained that the World Health Organization was informed last week of just over 15,000 COVID-19 related deaths, which is the lowest toll since March 2020.