The Delta COVID-19 variant has currently been detected in 104 countries and is expected to soon be the dominant strain globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom.

Tedros made the remark at a COVID-19 media briefing on Monday, where he warned of the impact of the Delta variant.

"The Delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death," he said, noting that last week marked the fourth consecutive week of increasing cases of COVID-19 globally, with increases recorded in all but one of WHO's six regions.

"In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta is spreading quickly; especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems," said Tedros.

"In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad. Delta and other highly transmissible variants are driving catastrophic waves of case, which are translating into high numbers of hospitalizations and death.”

The WHO chief urged countries lifting public health and social measures to ensure they consider the impact on health workers and health systems.

By Monday, the number of COVID-19 infections globally had surpassed 186.96 million with deaths exceeding 4.03 million, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.