WHO concerned about 'worrying trends' in some countries as global COVID-19 cases top 2m

The World Health Organization chief said on Friday that although there are some encouraging signs in some countries, there are worrying trends in others, as global COVID-19 cases topped 2 million.

Speaking at a virtual press conference from Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that in the past week there has been a 51-percent increase in the number of reported cases in Africa, and a 60-percent increase in the number of reported deaths there.

"With the current challenge of obtaining testing kits, it's likely that the real numbers are higher than reported," he said.

According to him, with WHO support, most countries in Africa now have the capacity to test for COVID-19, but there are still significant gaps in access to testing kits.

"We're working with partners to fill those gaps and help countries find the virus," Tedros said.

As of Friday, the WHO has recorded more than 2 million COVID-19 cases with 135,000 deaths around the world.

The WHO chief also stressed at the press conference that while it is encouraging that several countries in Europe and North America are now starting to plan how to ease social restrictions, these easing must be a gradual process.