World Health Organisation expert on the coronavirus pandemic. The technical lead on Covid-19 at the UN health agency, Maria Van Kerkhove, said on Monday that in a "worrying sign", the growth followed a fifth straight of confirmed cases across the globe. Also Read | Six wrong calls on post-covid economyShe said the number of reported cases went up in four of the WHO's six regions, though there were significant variations within each region."In the last week, cases have increased by 8%," Van Kerkhove told reporters. "In Europe, that is 12% -- and that's driven by several countries."The increase is in part due to the spread of a variant that first emerged in Britain and is now circulating in many other places, including eastern Europe, she.