GENEVA (Reuters) – The global coronavirus pandemic remains “very much in the upswing” with a danger the disease could swiftly return to countries as they emerge from lockdowns, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Countries in South-East Asia are working hard to identify new clusters and break the chains of transmission, WHO’s top emergencies expert Mike Ryan told a news conference.

“We are still very much in the upswing of this pandemic especially in the global South,” Ryan said.

“It’s not surprising at all that any country coming out of a so-called lockdown can have clusters of disease, re-emergence of disease in clusters. That’s not necessarily a second wave.”

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said regions like Europe which are seeing the numbers of cases ebb were not safe as the virus could be reintroduced.

Mexico ranks 7th worldwide in the number of new cases and third in the latest deaths, Ryan said, adding: “The situation in Mexico is clearly difficult, it is challenging.”