Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) said deaths because of COVID-19 were increasing in some parts of the Middle East and Asia, while Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions were increasing in Europe and hospitalizations were increasing in several regions.
“Still, data are limited,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told media persons here today and said, “We continue to see concerning trends for COVID-19 ahead of the winter season in the northern hemisphere”.
Only 43 countries – less than a quarter of WHO Member States – are reporting deaths to WHO, and only 20 provide information on hospitalisations. “The increase in hospitalisations and deaths shows that COVID is here to stay and that we will continue to need tools to fight it,” Dr. Ghebreyesus said. According to him, globally, there was not one variant that was dominant. “The variant of interest EG.5 is on the rise, while the XBB subvariants are declining. The BA.2.86 variant has been detected in small numbers in 11 countries,” he informed and said WHO was monitoring this variant closely to assess its transmissibility and potential impact.
The WHO D-G said one of the biggest concerns was the low level of at-risk people who have received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine recently. “Our message is not to wait to get an additional dose if it is recommended for you,” he said.
Yesterday, WHO published an annexe to its global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19, which further supports countries in five critical areas: collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures and coordination.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ghebreyesus today also referred to Nigeria, which is experiencing a severe outbreak of diphtheria. So far, more than 9000 suspected cases have been reported across 17 states, with 307 deaths. This is the second wave of diphtheria this year. It is a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease, caused by a bacterium which can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, with a higher mortality rate in young children.
As for Dengue in Bangladesh, the WHO D-G said cases were starting to decline in the capital Dhaka but were increasing in other parts of the country. Since the outbreak began in April, more than 135 thousand cases and 650 deaths have been reported, including 300 deaths reported in August alone in Bangladesh. The outbreak is putting huge pressure on the health system.
– global bihari bureau
