COVID cases rise in 4 regions – WHO Chief

SWITZERLAND, KOREA: A decline in genome sequencing and testing for COVID-19 has made it “increasingly difficult” to know where the virus is and how it is mutating, World Health Organisation Chief Tedros Adhenom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday as cases have risen over the last week in four out of six WHO regions.

“Over the last week, COVID-19 cases have risen in four out of the six WHO regions. Due to testing and sequencing reducing in many countries, it is increasingly difficult to know where the virus is and how it’s mutating,” the WHO director-general said.

He also expressed concern over the first reported COVID outbreak in North Korea, with more than 1.7 million suspected cases since late April. On Wednesday, North Korea reported 232,880 new cases of fever and six related deaths as the virus continues to spread rapidly in the unvaccinated population.

Meanwhile, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has ordered nationwide lockdowns to try and slow the spread of the disease through the unvaccinated population, and deployed the military after what he has called a botched response to the outbreak.

Hundreds of personnel in camouflage uniforms from the Korean People’s Army medical units were seen rallying in the capital Pyongyang in photos released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). – THE HINDUSTAN TIMES, THE BANGKOK POST