Geneva/Capetown/Doha/Yerevan: The World Health Organization today noted an increase in COVID-19 cases in several countries of Europe that is causing hospitalisations and deaths. It however said this was expected as the weather cools and people spend more time together inside, and most countries no longer have measures in place to limit the spread of the virus.
“We expect reported cases of COVID-19 to increase. But the deaths don’t have to, given we have vaccines and therapeutics that can save lives,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Omicron remains the dominant variant globally, and WHO said along with its partners, it was tracking more than 300 sub-variants. Globally, from 3 September to 3 October 2022, 104 128 SARS-CoV-2 sequences were shared through GISAID – a global science initiative and primary source established in 2008 that provides open access to genomic data of influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these, 104 055 sequences were of the Omicron variant of concern (VOC), accounting for 99.9% of sequences reported in the past 30 days.
There continues to be increased diversity within Omicron and its descendent lineages. A number of these Omicron descendent lineages are under monitoring. During epidemiological week 36 (5 to 11 September 2022), as samples from more recent weeks may have not been reposited, BA.5 descendent lineages continued to be dominant accounting for 80.8% of sequences, followed by BA.4 descendent lineages (including BA.4.6) which accounted for 7.8%, and BA.2 descendent lineages (including BA.2.75) which accounted for 3.1% of sequences. During the same week (5 to 11 September 2022), unassigned sequences (presumed to be Omicron) accounted for 8.3% of sequences submitted to GISAID.
However, WHO conceded that globally weak surveillance, testing and sequencing make tracking the virus appear like “chasing shadows”. At the same time, it today lauded South Africa’s vaccine regulator for reaching a new WHO level to ensure safety, quality and effectiveness. WHO confirmed South Africa’s attainment of maturity level three (ML3)—the third of four levels in the WHO’s classification. Maturity level four (ML4) is the highest. “This achievement affirms South Africa’s trailblazing endeavour in health research. Beyond its technical aspects, this milestone carries real implications for people’s health. We cannot talk about better health care without quality medical supplies,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “This is an important new step not only for South Africa but for the region towards self-sufficiency in vaccines and medicines.” The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) is the fourth National Regulatory Authority (NRA) to become an ML3 regulatory authority for vaccines in the WHO African Region alongside Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria. It is the fifth to achieve this status in the African continent, following Egypt which achieved ML3 for vaccines earlier in 2022.
Incidentally, the latest weekly epidemiological report on COVID-19 released today by WHO showed that globally, the number of new weekly cases decreased by 6% during the week of 26 September to 2 October 2022, as compared to the previous week, with over 2.9 million new cases reported. The number of new weekly deaths decreased by 12%, as compared to the previous week, with just over 8300 fatalities reported. As of October 2, 2022, 615 million confirmed cases and 6.5 million deaths have been reported globally.
While case numbers increased in Europe (+8%), all other regions continued to show a decline in cases. At the country level, the highest numbers of new weekly cases were reported from Germany (400 214 new cases; +42%), the United States of America (312 125 new cases; -15%), Japan (306 958 new cases; -43%), China (303 092 new cases; +4%) and France (264 889 new cases; +15%). The highest numbers of new weekly deaths were reported from the United States of America (2728 new deaths; +6%), the Russian Federation (711 new deaths; similar to the previous week), Japan (563 new deaths; -15%), China (368 new deaths; -26%) and Brazil (286 new deaths; -36%).
WHO today reiterated its call to all countries to increase surveillance, testing and sequencing, and to ensure the most at-risk groups are vaccinated. It also referred to a new report by the Qatar Foundation, World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) released today and finds that at least a quarter of health and care workers surveyed reported anxiety, depression and burnout symptoms.
The report, Our duty of care: A global call to action to protect the mental health of health and care workers, found that 23 to 46 per cent of health and care workers reported symptoms of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic and 20 to 37 per cent experienced depressive symptoms. Besides, burnout among health and care workers during the pandemic ranged from 41 to 52 per cent in pooled estimates. Women, young people and parents of dependent children were found to be at greater risk of psychological distress — significant considering that women make up 67 per cent of the global health workforce and are subject to inequalities in the sector, such as unequal pay. The higher risk of negative mental health outcomes among younger health workers is also a concern.
As the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, now in its third year, has created an especially challenging context for emergency response in many countries, increasing the demand for specialized skills in infection prevention and control, and the management of severe respiratory infection cases, the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) Network across WHO’s six regions are in Yerevan, Armenia, for the 5th EMT Global Meeting this week where it will launch the EMT 2030 strategy—the blueprint for the next eight years to continue to develop a network of effective and high-performing national, subnational and regional EMTs in line with the WHO EMT classification and minimum standards.
EMTs are the groups of health professionals, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, support workers and logisticians, who provide care for patients affected by an emergency.
The three-day gathering offers participants from over 110 countries – including EMTs, technical experts and international partners across a range of organizations – an opportunity to reflect on lessons learnt from the response to multiple emergencies, including innovative and lifesaving approaches, and to discuss how to further strengthen the WHO-supported EMT Initiative going forward.
It may be mentioned that the EMT network deployed nearly 200 International EMTs to support the response in 67 countries, highlighting the role of specialized care teams that both support a country’s response while building their national capacities. The EMT Initiative was formed after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, quickly growing into a significant network of qualified medical teams, trained and prepared to provide immediate support during an emergency. So far, 37 International teams have already been classified by WHO, with nearly 100 more currently undergoing the classification process to meet the highest standards of healthcare assistance in emergencies.
– global bihari bureau
