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The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging countries beginning to loosen coronavirus restrictions to be cautious as cases of COVID-19 could sharply increase if measures are rolled back too quickly, The Hill reports.

“We want to re-emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country. Ending the epidemic will require a sustained effort on the part of individuals, communities and governments to continue suppressing and controlling the virus,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday during a news conference.

“So-called lockdowns can help to take the heat out of a country’s epidemic, but they cannot end it alone. Countries must now ensure they can detect, test, isolate and acre for every case, and trace very contact,” Tedros added.

Several European countries and others around the world have announced plans to start slowly reopening some businesses and schools over the coming weeks as the outbreak has shown some signs of slowing down. But even as some countries tentatively lift coronavirus restrictions, more than half of the world’s population is still under some form of confinement. Protests demanding stay-at-home orders be lifted have occurred in countries all over the world, including in the United States.