The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday, said that they are now concerned that the coronavirus spread was being driven by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. “The epidemic is changing,” WHO Western Pacific regional director, Takeshi Kasai, told a virtual briefing.

“People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving the spread. Many are unaware they are infected. This increases the risk of spillovers to the more vulnerable.” A surge in new cases has prompted some nations to re-impose curbs as companies race to find a vaccine for a virus that has killed over 7,70,000 people

Countries putting their interests ahead of others in trying to ensure supplies of a possible vaccine are making the pandemic worse, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva on Tuesday. “No one is safe until everyone is safe,” he said, calling for an end to “vaccine nationalism”.

Surges in cases have been reported in countries that had appeared to have the virus under control, including Vietnam. “It’s a signal that we have entered a new phase of pandemic in the Asia-Pacific,” Kasai said. Meanwhile, the WHO recommended widespread anti-flu vaccinations to help to ward off the risk of complicating Covid infections.