Cairo: On Wednesday, the World Health Organization reported that a surge of Coronavirus cases in several Middle Eastern countries could have dire consequences, exacerbated by the spread of Delta variant and low vaccine availability.
Following a decline in cases and deaths for eight weeks in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region, outbreaks have increased dramatically in Libya, Iran, Iraq and Tunisia, with spikes forecast for Lebanon and Morocco.
Next week, countries across the region will celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, which has traditionally included religious and social gatherings where infections may spread.
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‘WHO fears that the current COVID-19 upsurge may continue in the coming weeks, resulting in catastrophic consequences,’ the agency`s regional office said in a statement.
In addition to low vaccination rates and new variants spreading across the globe, low compliance with public health and social measures, and growing complacency by communities were all blamed, according to the WHO.
WHO cited Tunisia as having the highest mortality rate due to Coronavirus in the region and in Africa and noted that the number of daily cases almost doubled in Iran over the past four weeks in early July.
The statement said that the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the Eastern Mediterranean region, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Djibouti, as well as Middle Eastern states, exceeded 11.4 million.
Over 223,000 deaths were reported, it added.
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