WHO: Middle East providing little details on coronavirus cases

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday that governments in the Middle East are not providing it with sufficient information on coronavirus cases.

The Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, said that some countries in the Middle East “do not provide the organization with sufficient information” about the cases of infection with coronavirus, noting that there is a “disparity” between the way countries are fighting the virus, adding, “much more should be done”.

A few days ago, Al-Manzari expressed “concern about the increasing number of countries reporting cases in the region, especially those with weaker health systems. “Whereas before, most of the cases reported were travel-related, we are now seeing more cases of local transmission, and this is a worrying development,” Al-Manzari said.

Last Wednesday, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic. There are currently over 220,000 cases of the virus globally while nearly 9,000 have died from the disease.

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Cornavirus is affecting the world’s economy – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]