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The head of the World Health Organization on Monday warned that governments shouldn’t be quick to lift coronavirus-control measures like lockdowns — even as some countries see a slide in the number of new cases, New York Post reported. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic won’t go away as quickly as it arrived — cautioning that “the way down is much slower than the way up.”

“While COVID-19 accelerates very fast, it decelerates much more slowly,” Tedros told reporters at a briefing. “In other words, the way down is much slower than the way up.”

Tedros said that nations risk a resurgence if these measures are not “lifted slowly and with control.”

“It cannot happen all at once,” Tedros said. “Control measures can only be lifted if the right public health measures are in place, including significant capacity for contact tracing.”

Tedros said that governments also need to make sure communities are “fully educated” about how to navigate a new normal.

Workplaces and schools should have preventative measures in place before opening again to stop new outbreaks, he said.

“Physical distancing restrictions are only part of the equation, and there are many other basic public health measures that need to be put in place,” he said.