Coronavirus epidemic 'far from over' in Asia: WHO official

The coronavirus epidemic is "far from over" in the Asia-Pacific region, and the current measures to curb the spread of the virus are merely buying time for countries to prepare for large-scale community transmissions, a WHO official said on Tuesday.

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Even with all the measures, the risk of transmission in the region will not go away as long as the pandemic continues, said Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director for the Western Pacific at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Preparations for a large-scale transmission must reach everyone, Kasai said at a virtual media briefing.

Kasai warned that for countries that are seeing a tapering off of cases, they should not let down their guard, or the virus may come surging back.