The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom, called on Thursday for countries around the world to return to mandating mask-wearing and to take a set of measures that limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, saying "Countries must implement precautionary measures such as wearing masks, improved ventilation, and testing and treatment protocols to prevent the virus from spreading again."

At the same time, the UN official expressed concern over the continued rise in coronavirus cases, which puts additional pressure on the already burdened health systems and healthcare workers worldwide.

Earlier, the World Health Organization revealed that weekly coronavirus infections have increased for the fifth consecutive week, stating that in the first week of July, more than 5.7 million new cases were reported, an increase of 6% compared to the previous week.