Outside of China, many experts have their attention on the US and Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which has been detected in 29 countries so far.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, said it was “the most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet.”
However there is no indication as yet that XBB.1.5 — which has been spreading rapidly in the northeastern United States — causes more severe disease than other types of Covid.
The upsurge in XBB.1.5 cases, Van Kerkhove said, underlined how important it was “to continue surveillance for Covid-19 around the world so that we can track these known subvariants that are in circulation.”
There were more than 13 million Covid cases reported to the WHO last month alone, she said, “and we know that that’s an underestimate because surveillance has declined.”
There were also 15 percent more Covid deaths globally last month than the month before, she said.
“Every week, approximately 10,000 people die of Covid-19, that we are aware of,” Tedros said. “The true toll is likely much higher.”
© Agence France-Presse