The director of the WTO, Hans Kluge, said on Thursday that further measures are needed to flatten the steep vertical line in increasing cases in some countries.
Although the variant spreads more easily than others, there is no evidence that it is more deadly or worse.
Health officials also underestimated the possibility that coronavirus vaccines would not work against the variant.
But in the UK, health workers are struggling with a sharp increase in cases and deaths. The country recorded a total of 1,041 further deaths on Wednesday, as well as 62,322 new cases.
Speaking at a news conference, Kluge said the British variant had now been detected in 22 countries across the WHO’s European region.
“We believe that this variant of concern will, over time, replace other circles as seen in the UK, and increasingly in Denmark,” Kluge said.
“However, with increased transmissibility and similar severity of the disease, the variant is alarming: without increased control to slow its spread, there will be a greater impact on healthcare institutions that are already under stress and under pressure.”
“This is a disturbing situation, which means that for a short time we have to do more than we have done and to step up public health and social measures to make sure we can cross the steep vertical line in some countries. flattening, “Kluge added.
Kluge subsequently urged countries to “mitigate this burden by doing everything in their power to reduce transmission and increase vigilance to identify new variants.”
A number of European countries are currently under lockout or have introduced strict Covid-19 measures, including Britain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Greece.