COVID-19 cases and deaths plateauing globally, says WHO

However, WHO said that there will come a time when we can all take off our masks, but for most of the world's population who are not yet vaccinated, 'we're not there yet'.

File Photo (Twitter/WHO)

New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday (May 10, 2021) said that the COVID-19 cases and deaths are plateauing globally, with declines in most regions including the two worst-affected regions, the Americas and Europe.

However, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world has been here before.

"Any decline is welcome, but we have been here before. Over the past year, many countries have experienced a declining trend in cases and deaths, have relaxed public health and social measures too quickly, and individuals have let down their guard, only for those hard-won gains to be lost," he said during a press briefing.

"But it’s an unacceptably high plateau, with more than 5.4 million reported #COVID19 cases and almost 90 thousand deaths last week"-@DrTedros https://t.co/ocxv23djWl — World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 10, 2021

He added that coronavirus cases and deaths are still increasing rapidly in WHO's South-East Asia region, and there are countries in every region with increasing trends.

The WHO chief stated that globally, we are still in a perilous situation and the spread of variants, increased social mixing, the relaxation of public health and social measures and inequitable vaccination are all driving transmission.

"Yes, vaccines are reducing severe disease and death in countries that are fortunate enough to have them in sufficient quantities, and early results suggest that vaccines might also drive down transmission," he added.

The spread of variants, increased social mixing, the relaxation of public health and social measures and inequitable vaccination are all driving #COVID19 transmission. Therefore, we need to use every tool at our disposal to drive transmission down, right now. pic.twitter.com/47wje5w5LO — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 10, 2021

He also said that there will come a time when we can all take off our masks when we no longer have to keep our distance from each other when we can once again go safely to concerts, sporting events, rallies and restaurants, but for most of the world's population who are not yet vaccinated, 'we're not there yet'.