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BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - The coronavirus epidemic is
"far from over" in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures
to curb the spread of the virus are buying time for countries to
prepare for large-scale community transmissions, a WHO official
said on Tuesday.
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).
The new coronavirus first surfaced in central China in late
2019. Infections have now exceeded 770,000 cases worldwide, with
the United States, Italy and Spain overtaking mainland China in
confirmed cases.
"Let me be clear. The epidemic is far from over in Asia and
the Pacific. This is going to be a long-term battle and we
cannot let down our guard," Kasai told a virtual media briefing.
"We need every country to keep preparing for large-scale
community transmission."
Countries with limited resources are a priority, such as
Pacific Island nations, he said, as they have to ship samples to
other countries for diagnoses, and transportation restrictions
are making that more difficult.
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.
The WHO does not expect any country to be safe, as the
coronavirus will eventually get everywhere, said WHO technical
adviser Matthew Griffith.
"Whereas countries and areas in this region have shown how
to flatten the curve, outbreaks continue to pop up in new places
and importation remains a concern," Griffith said at the
briefing, citing cases in Singapore and South Korea from people
who travelled abroad.
The focus of the epidemic is now on Europe, but that will
likely shift to other regions, Griffith said.