The World Health Organization has classified the EG.5 coronavirus strain circulating in the United States and China as a “variant of interest,” but it did not appear to be more of threatening to public health than other variants.
Should India be concerned after the discovery of a new Covid variant Eris in Maharashtra, according to experts?
The swiftly spreading type, which is the most common in the United States with an estimated 17% of cases, has been responsible for virus outbreaks in various countries including China, South Korea, Japan, and Canada.
The WHO has not found any evidence to suggest that EG.5 poses greater public health risks than other Omicron descendent lineages, according to a risk assessment.
The statement recommended that the risk of EG.5 be assessed more extensively.
The global emergency status for COVID-19 was lifted in May this year, and since its discovery, more than 768 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, resulting in the death of over 6.9 million people.
The WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, stated that EG.5 has a higher susceptibility than other Omicron types.
“Instead of a change in severity, we don’t perceive any deviation in EG.5 compared to other Omicron sublineages that have been published since late 2021,” she stated.
The failure of many countries to provide COVID-19 data to WHO was criticized by Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to him, only 11% had reported hospitalizations and ICU admissions associated with the virus.
In response, WHO issued a series of standing recommendations for COVID, which called on countries to keep their records of COVID, including mortality and morbidity data, and to provide vaccinations.
The UK is on a Covid alert as concerns about Omicron variant Eris surface.
The virus fight was being hampered by the lack of data from various nations, according to Van Kerkhove.
“A year ago, we were able to either anticipate, act, or be more agile,” she noted. However, the current situation is causing us to delay this task for longer and lose our ability to do this effectively.”
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