The logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) is seen near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, February 2, 2023. Photo by Reuters/Denis Balibouse
The World Health Organization on Wednesday classified the EG.5 strain of coronavirus circulating in the United States and China as a “variant of interest”, but said it appeared to pose no more threat to public health than any other. other variants.
The fast-spreading variant, most prevalent in the United States with around 17% of cases, has driven the rise in the virus across the country and has also been detected in China, South Korea, Japan and in Canada, among others. countries.
“Collectively, the available evidence does not suggest that EG.5 poses additional public health risks compared to other Omicron progeny lines currently in circulation,” the WHO said in a risk assessment.
A more comprehensive assessment of the risk posed by EG.5 was needed, he added.
Covid-19 has killed over 6.9 million people worldwide, with over 768 million confirmed cases since the virus emerged. The WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic in March 2020 and ended the global state of emergency for Covid-19 in May this year.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on Covid-19, said EG.5 had increased transmissibility but was no more severe than other Omicron variants.
“We do not detect a change in severity of EG.5 compared to other Omicron sublines that have been in circulation since late 2021,” she said.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lamented that many countries are not reporting Covid-19 data to the WHO.
He said only 11% had reported hospitalizations and intensive care admissions related to the virus.
In response, the WHO issued a set of standing recommendations for Covid, in which it urged countries to continue reporting data on COVID, in particular mortality data, morbidity data, and to continue to offer vaccination.
Van Kerkhove said a lack of data from many countries was hampering efforts to tackle the virus.
“About a year ago we were in a much better position to anticipate or act or be more nimble,” she said. “And now the lag in our ability to do that is increasing. And our ability to do that is decreasing.”
