By George Mwangi

 

The coronavirus pandemic is speeding up, although globally many countries have made some progress in its containment measures, the World Health Organization head said Monday.

"Most people remain susceptible. The virus still has a lot of room to move," said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The health agency has sent experts to China to investigate the origin of the diseases, as it marks six months on Tuesday since it received the first reports of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in China, Mr. Ghebreyesus said.

He emphasized contact tracing as a measure to contain the virus. "The single-most important intervention for breaking chains of transmission is not necessarily high-tech and can be carried out by a broad range of professionals. It's tracing and quarantining contacts."

Africa has confirmed 371,611 Covid-19 cases and 9,668 deaths. Globally, there are more than 10 million cases and more than 500,000 deaths, as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2020 19:54 ET (23:54 GMT)

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