Covid spike prompts health chief warning governments should 'consider reintroducing' masks and other measures

Governments should consider reintroducing Covid protection measures amid a global “increasing trend of deaths” from the virus, a World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has warned.

A growing number of first world countries have all but abandoned measures such as face masks and ventilation following successful rollouts of the Covid vaccine.

However, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the pandemic is “nowhere near over” in a global sense, the Mirror reports.

His warning comes as the number of people estimated to have Covid in the UK has risen in recent weeks. READ MORE: Covid warning as experts say new Centaurus strain could be worse than mild Omicron sub-variants READ MORE: Three Covid symptoms to look out for as UK virus estimates reach record highs The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Covid Infection Survey believe that around one in 17 Scots had the virus in the week ending June 30.Recent spikes in virus estimates are believed to have been caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub variants of the virus.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has particular concerns over the BA.5 variant - which is said to be growing 35.1 per cent faster than the currently-dominant BA.2 Omicron strain of the virus.More and more countries are also now recording cases of the Covid strain.Amid a spike in Covid transmission, Dr Ghebreyesus urged governments to “deploy tried and tested measures like masking, improved ventilation and test and treat protocols”. "I am concerned that cases of Covid-19 continue to rise - putting further pressure on stretched health systems and health workers," he said. "I am also concerned about the increasing trend of deaths." Dr Ghebreyesus urged governments to regularly review and