Today: 23 May 2025
4 December 2022
2 mins read

‘Surveillance gaps create perfect conditions for new deadly variants’

WHO’s statistics has shown that the number of weekly deaths reported to it has declined slightly over the past five weeks, but more than 8,500 people lost their lives last week…reports Asian Lite News

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that although the world is “much closer” to end the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, it warned that Omicron was still circulating rampantly and continues to cause significant mortality.

“We are much closer to being able to say that the emergency phase of the pandemic is over — but we’re not there yet,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing here.

The reason behind is that “Omicron has proved to be significantly more transmissible than its predecessor, Delta, and continues to cause significant mortality due to the intensity of transmission”.

Meanwhile, “gaps in surveillance, testing, sequencing and vaccination are continuing to create the perfect conditions for a new variant of concern to emerge that could cause significant mortality”, Tedros added.

Pedestrians pass a sign advertising a COVID-19 testing site in New York, the United States, on May 12, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua/IANS)

WHO’s statistics has shown that the number of weekly deaths reported to it has declined slightly over the past five weeks, but more than 8,500 people lost their lives last week.

It’s “not acceptable three years into the pandemic, when we have so many tools to prevent infections and save lives”, he said.

The WHO chief, however, admitted that Omicron, of which over 500 sublineages are circulating, tends to cause less severe disease than previous variants of concern.

WHO estimates that at least 90 per cent of the world’s population now has some level of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, due to prior infection or vaccination.

According to Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, at least 2.5 million cases worldwide were reported to WHO in the last week alone, but that number was a gross under-estimate of the circulation of the virus around the world.

Some estimates from wastewater data has suggested that the number of new cases could be as much as five times higher in some countries, meaning the virus is still circulating rampantly around the globe.

“So people over the age of 60, people with underlying conditions, immunocompromised and our frontline workers… We have not yet reached that target of a hundred percent of (vaccinating) at-risk people around the world in every country. And this is what we want governments to focus on,” said Van Kerkhove.

ALSO READ: Bill Clinton tests Covid positive

Previous Story

Qatar 2022 witnesses highest attendance in FIFA World Cup history

Next Story

Religious leaders meet in eastern DRC

Latest from -Top News

UAE bakery aid reaches Gaza

The convoy is a crucial component of the UAE’s ongoing humanitarian strategy under Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, which prioritises urgent food aid. A major humanitarian relief convoy has successfully entered the Gaza

Tech giants unite for Stargate UAE

This marks the beginning of a strategic partnership involving G42, OpenAI, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank Group, all coming together under the banner of international AI leadership. In a landmark announcement that

‘Make It in Emirates’ boosts Dh11b projects

The event welcomed more than 122,000 visitors — a 20-fold increase over its previous edition — and drew participation from over 720 local and international industrial, financial, and technology entities. The fourth

UAE leads Arab health push in Genevaa

UAE Health Minister Al Owais highlights Arab unity at WHO Assembly, reaffirming commitment to global health, crisis response, and sustainable healthcare innovation for the future. The UAE underscored its regional leadership in

Will tackle terrorism together: UAE backs India 

The UAE reaffirmed strong support for India’s fight against terrorism during a high-level Indian delegation visit, highlighting shared security goals and condemning cross-border terrorism after the Pahalgam attack. In a powerful show
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Actual Covid deaths much higher than official figures

As per estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO) the

Global Covid caseload tops 425.7 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 425.7 million, while the