A senior World Health Organization (WHO) figure has said that coronavirus pandemic is likely to be “one big wave” as they warned people to remain vigilant despite lockdowns being eased, Yahoo News reports.

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said the idea of a “second wave” is flawed since infection rates do not seem to be affected by the seasons.

Instead, Harris said, people should think about the virus as a single wave – since the danger remains the same throughout the year.

"People are still thinking about seasons,” she told a press conference on Tuesday.

“What we all need to get our heads around is this is a new virus and it is behaving, even though it is a respiratory virus, even though respiratory viruses in the past did tend to this different seasonal waves, this one is behaving differently.

"There seems to be this persistent belief that summer is not a problem.

“Summer is a problem. This virus likes all weathers, but what it particularly likes is jumping from one person to another when we come in close contact.

“So let's not give it that opportunity. The second wave idea, we are in the first wave. It's going to be one big wave.

The comments came as Boris Johnson indicated that the UK could impose quarantine restrictions on further European countries if a "second wave" of coronavirus hits the continent, following the country’s decision to impose a mandatory quarantine for tourists returning from Spain.