The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening globally.
It also said ‘there will be no return to the old normal for the foreseeable future’.
WHO director-general said numerous countries have now brought their previously explosive outbreaks under control, namely those in Europe and Asia.
He, however, lamented that ‘too many countries are headed in the wrong direction’.
Without naming specific politicians, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also rebuked political leaders for their ‘mixed messages’ amid the coronavirus outbreaks, according to reports.
Meanwhile, two WHO experts were in China for a mission to trace the origin of the pandemic.
The virus was first detected in central China’s city of Wuhan late last year.
Beijing had been reluctant to allow a probe but relented after scores of countries called on the WHO to conduct a thorough investigation.
Deaths from the virus have been rising in the United States, especially in the South and West, though they are still well below the numbers reached in April, according to a recent data from Johns Hopkins University.