Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday warned of the "devastating outbreaks" caused by the Delta variant of Covid-19, saying that the new strain of the virus was infecting people "at a scorching pace".

"Last week marked the fourth consecutive week of increasing cases of Covid-19 globally," Tedros said at a virtual press conference from Geneva, adding that "after ten weeks of declines, deaths are increasing again."