The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries to press on with efforts to contain the novel coronovirus, noting the pandemic is worsening globally and has not peaked in central America.

“More than six months into the pandemic this is not the time for any country to take its foot off the pedal,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online briefing.

His top emergencies expert, Dr Mike Ryan, said cases of infection in central American countries were still on the rise.

He said the need now was to focus on preventing second peaks of Covid-19.

Opinion

Editorial

Exit strategy
Updated 18 Mar, 2026

Exit strategy

MOST members of the international community, particularly states in the greater Middle East, are gravely concerned...
Unsafe trains
18 Mar, 2026

Unsafe trains

SUNDAY’S accident involving the Shalimar Express has once again brought into sharp focus the deep structural and...
Disappointment in Dhaka
18 Mar, 2026

Disappointment in Dhaka

FOR a side looking for lift-off after a disappointing T20 World Cup, it was despair for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s ...
Missing in action
17 Mar, 2026

Missing in action

NOT exactly known for playing a proactive role in protecting the interests of Muslim nations and populations...
Risk to stability
Updated 17 Mar, 2026

Risk to stability

THE risks to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery from the US-Israel war on Iran cannot be dismissed. Yet the...
Enrolment push
17 Mar, 2026

Enrolment push

THE federal government has embarked upon the welcome initiative to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad...