Middle East states must give more info on coronavirus cases, says WHO

A labourer sprays disinfectant in Jordan's Petra south of the capital Amman to prevent the spread of coronavirus. AFP

A labourer sprays disinfectant in Jordan's Petra south of the capital Amman to prevent the spread of coronavirus. AFP

Delivery men wear protective face masks as they deliver food for customers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters

Lebanese intelligence officer patrolling a street in Beirut after authorities ordered shops to close for two weeks to fight COVID-19. AFP

Lebanese intelligence officers patrolling a street in Beirut after authorities ordered shops to close for two weeks to fight COVID-19. AFP

Turkish citizens look out from windows in Ankara after being quarantined to prevent the spread of coronavirus after returning from Saudi Arabia, where they took part in the Umrah pilgrimage. EPA

A man wearing a face mask sells food at a street market in Erbil, Iraq. AFP

A civil defence worker sprays disinfectant in a market in Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo

Palestinian municipality workers and Health Ministry personnel stand at the construction site of a field hospital to house coronavirus patients in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip. AFP

A worker wearing a protective suit sprays interiors departure hall of Baghdad International Airport. REUTERS

Iraqi Kurdish musician Nujin Hasan plays his violin to residents of his apartment block in Erbil. AFP

Delivery men wear protective face masks as they deliver food for customers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Reuters

Heath workers take people's temperatures and inform them about the dangers of the spread of the coronavirus near the camp for displaced Syrians in Deir al-Ballut camp in Afrin, Aleppo. AFP

A labourer sprays disinfectant in Jordan's archaeological city of Petra south of the capital Amman. AFP

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Middle East states needed to urgently offer more information about coronavirus cases to help bolster the fight against the disease across the region.

Ahmed Al Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said the regional approach to fighting the coronavirus had so far been "uneven" and that much more should be done.

Improved access to information would allow the WHO to track its spread closely and quickly apply proven public health measures, Mr Mandhari told reporters in a video-conference briefing.

"Unfortunately, even today, as the situation is becoming critical, information on cases is insufficiently communicated by countries to WHO," he said, referring to "under-reporting on the part of some countries with regard to positive cases".

The WHO had seen efforts to strengthen surveillance, scale up testing and support families who are isolating relatives or in quarantine, he added, but some states were not fully engaged.

"Frankly we are seeing uneven approaches across the region. While we have observed impressive progress in several countries, not all are yet applying the whole of government and whole of society approach."

"The time to act is now. I cannot stress enough the level of urgency."

Across much of the region outside Iran – which is one of the worst affected countries worldwide – the number of confirmed cases has been relatively low compared to east Asia and Europe. But WHO officials fear real figures could be considerably higher than reported due to a lack of testing and a prevalence of mild cases.

So far, Mr Mandhari said just over 18,000 cases had been confirmed in 18 countries in the WHO's Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Pakistan and Afghanistan as well and Middle Eastern and North African states. That includes 1,010 deaths in seven countries.