The World Health Organization urges Middle Eastern governments to be more forthcoming with information about new coronavirus infections in order to effectively combat the global pandemic.
“We can only control this disease if we have access to information that allows us to understand its dynamic in the region,” Ahmed al-Mandhari, WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean director, tells an online press conference from Cairo.
“We have an opportunity to contain this pandemic in our region,” he adds.
Despite being geographically located in the eastern Mediterranean, the State of Israel is not included in this WHO region, but is instead part of its European branch for political reasons.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases have reached over 18,000 across the Middle East, with more than 1,000 deaths recorded in seven countries, mostly in Iran.
— AFP
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