(VOVWORLD) - The WHO declared in May that Covid is no longer a global health emergency, but has warned that the virus will continue to circulate and mutate, causing occasional spikes in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
 Global Covid cases up 80% as new subvariant rises (Photo: Reuters) |
In its weekly update, the UN agency said that nations reported nearly 1.5 million new cases from July 10 to August 6, an 80 percent increase compared to the previous 28 days.
However the number of deaths fell by 57 percent to 2,500.
The WHO warned that the reported number of cases and deaths do not reflect the true numbers, in part because countries carry out far less testing and monitoring than during earlier stages of the pandemic.
A new strain of Covid-19 has been designated as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, although the public health risk has been judged as low.
The variant, known as EG.5 or “Eris”, is related to an Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.9.2, and is growing in prevalence globally, with countries including the UK, China and US among those affected.
However, the WHO suggested the variant does not pose a particular threat. “Based on the available evidence, the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level,” the agency said, adding that the risk appeared to be on a par with other circulating variants of interest.
“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” the WHO added.
Christina Pagel, professor of operational research at University College London, said that while the variant was growing in prevalence and appeared to be better at evading the immune system, allowing it to outcompete other variants, there was no evidence that it caused more severe disease.
The WHO listed a number of actions it recommended member states prioritise to better understand antibody escape and severity of EG.5, including monitoring for changes in indicators of severity.