GENEVA 3 Apr (ANA) - Middle Eastern governments must act fast to limit the spread of the coronavirus as cases in the region have risen to nearly 60,000 - almost double the tally of a week earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned. 

"New cases have been reported in some of the most vulnerable countries with fragile health systems," Ahmed al-Mandhari, WHO's director for the Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as MENA countries, said on Thursday.  

"Even in countries with stronger health systems, we have seen a worrying spike in the numbers of cases and deaths reported," al-Mandhari said in a statement.

Outside of Iran, which has reported more than 50,000 cases, coronavirus numbers have been relatively low in the Middle East and North Africa compared to Europe, the United States and Asia. 

But health officials fear cases of the highly contagious respiratory illness, COVID-19, are under-reported. They say many countries with weak governments and health systems eroded by conflict will struggle to cope.

"I cannot stress enough the urgency of the situation," said al-Mandhari. "The increasing numbers of cases show that transmission is rapidly occurring at local and community levels. 

"We still have a window of opportunity, but this window is slowly closing day by day."

The total number of cases in the region has risen to 58,168 from 32,442 on March 26, the WHO said, on a day when global COVID-19 cases crossed the one million mark.(ANA)

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