Coronavirus epidemic 'far from over' in Asia - WHO official

A woman wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), walks under blooming cherry blossoms in a snow fall during the first weekend after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike urged Tokyo residents to stay indoors in a bid to keep the coronavirus disease from spreading, in Tokyo, Japan March 29, 2020. REUTERS/Issei Kato

BEIJING (Reuters) - The coronavirus epidemic is "far from over" in the Asia-Pacific region, and current measures to curb the spread of the virus are buying time for countries to prepare for large-scale community transmissions, a WHO official said on Tuesday.

Even with all the measures, the risk of transmission in the region will not go away as long as the pandemic continues, said Takeshi Kasai, Regional Director for the Western Pacific at the World Health Organization (WHO).