Coronavirus pandemic " far from over " in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures to stem the spread of the virus are saving countries time to prepare for large-scale local transmissions, said Tuesday a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO).
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Despite all the measures taken to control the coronavirus, the risk of transmission in the region will not go away until the pandemic ends, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific. " This is going to be a long battle and we cannot let our guard down, " he said during a virtual press briefing. " Each country must continue to prepare for large-scale local transmission ," he added. Kasai warned that the drop in new cases of contamination did not allow relaxation.
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Another WHO representative said that WHO expected no country to be free from the coronavirus, which is expected to spread to all countries. " Outbreaks continue to appear in new places and importation remains a concern, " said Matthew Griffith, WHO technical adviser, during the press briefing, citing cases imported to Singapore and South Korea by travelers arriving from abroad.
