The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said today, Wednesday, that the global rise in coronavirus cases  could be just the tip of the iceberg, with some countries reporting a decrease in testing rates.

New infections jumped by 8% globally last week compared to the previous week.

Tedros added to journalists: “Sudden increases are expected, especially in areas where infection prevention measures have been lifted, however, there are unacceptably high levels of mortality in many countries.”

Meanwhile, the WHO technical lead on the pandemic, Maria Van Kerkhove, said a range of factors have caused the rise in infections, including the highly infectious Omicron variant and the lifting of public health measures and social restrictions.

She added: “We fully understand that the world needs to and wants to get rid of the coronavirus, but this virus is spreading strongly among people.”