The head of the World Health Organization says more than 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide each day over the past two weeks – mostly in the Americas and South Asia – and countries that have curbed transmissions “must stay alert to the possibility of resurgence.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted a new cluster of cases in Beijing, which went more than 50 days without a new case of COVID-19, and said the origin of that new series of cases is under investigation.
Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, said the U.N. Health agency has offered additional assistance to Chinese authorities and said WHO could be bolstering its team in China in the coming days as the investigation advances.
The outbreak first emerged late last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Tedros noted that it took over two months to reach 100,000 reported cases – now that is a daily norm. Nearly three-quarters of each day’s new cases come from 10 countries, mostly in South Asia and the Americas, he said.
