SWITZERLAND: Omicron, the latest variant of concern is dominant worldwide, the World Health Organization’s Infectious Disease Epidemiologist Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said, underlining that about half of the cases are linked to BA.5 sublineage.
“And there are further sub lineages of BA.5 as this virus continues to evolve,” she added in a remark that may raise fresh concerns about further mutation of the virus, which has killed over 63 lakhs of people in two years.
“We are seeing a continued increase in case detections of COVID-19. It’s the fifth or sixth week in a row where we’re seeing increases in the reported number of cases,” the world health body expert said in a briefing on Friday, stressing that hospitalisations are on a rise globally.
Counting various factors that may have contributed to the evolution of the virus, the expert underscored the “intense mixing of individuals in absence of mitigation factors, wearing masks and distancing.”
“Deaths are also increasing. In the last five weeks, we have seen deaths among groups that are not well-protected with the vaccine, meaning they have not been vaccinated. About half of the deaths were from Americans and about 33 per cent of the deaths were from Europe.”
Of the top 50 countries that have reported an increase in deaths, 35 countries have seen a 100 per cent increase in deaths, as per the WHO data. “Three countries had more than a 1,000 per cent increase.” - THE HINDUSTAN TIMES
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