The UN health agency is also concerned about more serious variants of the coronavirus may soon be in the offing.
“COVID-19 is still very much present,” and circulating in all countries, says Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO told journalists in Geneva.
Test positive
“Data from our sentinel-based surveillance system in 84 countries report that the percentage of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 is rising over several weeks,” she said. “Overall, test positivity is above 10 percentbut this varies by region. In Europe the percentage of positive is above 20 percent“, she added.
New waves of infections have been recorded in North and South America, Europe and the western Pacific.
Sewage monitoring shows that SARS-CoV-2 circulation is two to twenty times higher than current figures suggest.
Such high infection circulation rates in the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere are atypical for respiratory viruseswhich spread mainly at low temperatures.
“In recent months, many countries, regardless of the season, have experienced an increase in COVID-19, including the Olympic Games where at least 40 athletes tested positivesaid Dr. Van Kerkhove.
As the virus continues to evolve and spread, there is an increasing risk of a more severe variant of the virus that can evade detection systems and do not respond to medical intervention.
Raise awareness about vaccines
Although hospital admissions, including those in intensive care, remain much lower than at the height of the pandemic, WHO is urging governments to step up vaccination campaigns and ensure that those at highest risk are vaccinated at least once every 12 months.
“As an individual, it is important to take steps to reduce the risk of infection and serious illness, including ensuring you have had a COVID-19 vaccination in the past 12 months, especially if you are in a risk group”, emphasizes Dr. Van Kerkhove.
WHO admits that vaccine availability has declined significantly over the past 12 to 18 months as the number of COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers has declined recently.
“It’s very difficult for them to keep up the pace,” Dr. Van Kerkhove explained. “And they certainly don’t have to keep up the pace that they had in 2021 and 2022. But let’s be very clear, there is a market for COVID-19 vaccines that are (already) available.”
Looking ahead
Nasal vaccines are still in development but could potentially prevent transmission of the virus and thus reduce the risk of further variants, infection and serious disease.
“I am concerned,” said the WHO’s top COVID specialist.
“With such low coverage and such a large circulation, If we had a variant that was more severe, the susceptibility of the risk groups to develop severe disease would be enormouswarned Dr. Van Kerkhove.
