Subvariants fueling COVID rises in more than 50 countries --WHO

WHO: Subvariants fueling COVID rises in more than 50 countries The head of the WHO warns that rising cases are creating a volatile situation. CIDRAP

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) today warned that rising COVID-19 cases are creating a volatile situation, posing the most risk for countries with low vaccination coverage.

The United States is one of the countries with rising cases, with hospitalizations now showing a small increase, according to the latest data.

Concerns outlined ahead of global summit

At a briefing today, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, the WHO's director-general, said the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are driving South Africa's surge, with the BA.2 subvariant dominant across the world and COVID-19 cases rising in more than 50 nations.

Relatively high population immunity from vaccination or previous infection are so far keeping hospitalizations and deaths at a lower levels than previous surges. "But this is not guaranteed for places where vaccination coverage is low."

...