The director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Friday that gaps in strategies to tackle the Corona virus (Covid-19) this year continue to create ideal conditions for the emergence of a new variant, as Britain and parts of China are witnessing a rise in the number of cases of the virus.

The WHO director's comments mark a change in tone after months of saying the world was in a better position to end the pandemic.

"We are very close to being able to say that the pandemic emergency phase is over, but we have not yet reached that goal," Ghebreyesus said.

"Gaps in testing ... and vaccination continue to create conditions for the emergence of a new, worrisome variant that could cause many deaths," he added.

The World Health Organization urged governments to focus on reaching those at risk, such as those over the age of 60 and those with underlying medical conditions, in order to vaccinate them.

The United Kingdom has witnessed a significant increase in injuries after declining for months, as the number recorded exceeded the threshold of one million cases per week, according to data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) yesterday, Friday.

And the new official figures show that "the total number of positive tests for corona increased by 6% in the week that ended on November 1, compared to the week before."

The latest official data raised fears of a significant increase in the spread of the epidemic during the winter.

This is the first increase in coronavirus infections nationwide since the week ending October 17.

During the last wave, the total weekly infections peaked at more than two million cases in mid-October.

In China, record numbers of COVID-19 infections were recorded, and the relaxation of testing requirements and quarantine rules in some Chinese cities was met with a mixture of relief and anxiety on Friday, as hundreds of millions await a shift in national virus policies after some social unrest.

The National Health Committee stated today, Saturday, that China recorded 33,073 new cases of the virus on December 2, of which 3,988 had symptoms and 29,085 were asymptomatic.

The day before yesterday, China recorded 34,980 new infections, of which 4,278 were symptomatic and 30,702 were asymptomatic.

No new deaths were detected, so the toll remained at 5,233.