WHO 'extremely concerned' by surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe, Americas - China.org.cn

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that it's "extremely concerned" by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in some countries, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

"Right now we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we're seeing in some countries. Particularly in Europe and the Americas, health workers and health systems are being pushed to the breaking point," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.

He warned that "those countries that are letting the virus run unchecked are playing with fire," as there will be "further needless deaths and suffering," "a significant number of people experiencing long-term effects of the virus," and health workers in particular facing "extreme mental health pressure and cases severely burdening health systems in too many countries."

According to the latest WHO statistics, as of 2:59 p.m. CET (Central European Time) on Monday, the organization's regional offices in Europe and the Americas had respectively recorded 15,266,390 and 23,190,772 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 344,459 and 679,201 deaths.