Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination rollouts may be ramping up, but the fight against new infections is still far from over.

More than 5.2 million COVID-19 cases were recorded last week—the most in a single week since the start of the pandemic says World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Addressing a media briefing in Geneva on Monday (April 19), Tedros said COVID-19 infections have been rising at an alarming rate for eight consecutive weeks now, while deaths have also increased for the fifth straight week.

As of April 19, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than three million lives worldwide.

Noting how quickly the acceleration of deaths has taken place, Tedros said: “It took nine months to reach one million deaths, four months to reach two million, and three months to reach three million deaths.”

He added: “Big numbers can make us numb, but each one of these deaths is a tragedy for families, communities, and nations.”

While vulnerable populations such as the elderly and individuals with comorbidities have begun vaccinations or in some countries have become fully inoculated, the director-general suggested that the brunt of the virus’s spread is now beginning to shift to younger adults.

Tedros expressed that “infections and hospitalisations among people age 25 to 59 are increasing at an alarming rate, possibly as a result of highly transmissible variants and increased social mixing among younger adults”.

Despite this, the director-general said “we have the tools to bring this pandemic under control in a matter of months if we apply them consistently and equitably”.