'Make no mistake, virus will be with us for long time': WHO chief

The World Health Oraganisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday said some of the COVID-19 affected countries are seeing a resurgence of positive cases.

“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases,” Tedros told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing.

There were “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and central and South America, Tedros said.

“Make no mistake we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” he said.

He warned countries against complacency and urged them to prepare for a long and drawn out fight against the coronavirus.

He hoped that the Trump administration would reconsider freezing of the funding and support WHO's work.

US President Donald Trump had suspended funding to WHO after criticising its handling of the pandemic. He accused the global body of bias toward China and even dubbed it "China-centric".