São Paulo – Coronavirus infection rates are picking up as winter draws near across the Middle East, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director Ahmed Al-Mandhari warned this Thursday (19) during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, Saudi Arabian newspaper Arab News reported.
Al-Mandhari called on countries to tighten restrictions and put in place preventative measures. He is the WHO’s director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes part of the Middle East. He voiced concerns that the countries in the area were lowering their guard after the tough lockdowns they enforced early into the year.
He said social distancing and mask-wearing are being neglected, and that hospitals are crowded. He also said 3.6 million have had Covid-19 across the region, and over 76,000 have died from it over the past nine months.
More than 60% of new infections last week were reported in Iran, Jordan and Morocco. Cases are picking up in Pakistan and Lebanon, which went into lockdown in the beginning of this week. Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon reported the biggest single-day death spikes of any countries in the region, and Iran is the worst-off country of all.
Although Al-Mandhari cautiously welcomed news of viable vaccine candidates, he said the pandemic was far from over, Arab News reported. “We cannot — and should not — wait until a safe and effective vaccine becomes readily available for all,” he said. “We simply do not know when this will be.”
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
