<
https://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/2284/covid-19-situation-update-who-06aug2024/0/Jxbo2QBagw>
"COVID-19 infections are surging globally, including at the Paris Olympics, and
are unlikely to decline anytime soon, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The UN health agency is also warning that more severe variants of the
coronavirus may soon be on the horizon.
“COVID-19 is still very much with us,” and circulating in all countries, Dr.
Maria Van Kerkhove of WHO told journalists in Geneva.
“Data from our sentinel-based surveillance system across 84 countries reports
that the percent of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been rising over several
weeks,” she said. “Overall, test positivity is above 10 per cent, but this
fluctuates per region. In Europe, percent positivity is above 20 per cent,” Dr.
Van Kerkhove added.
New waves of infection have been registered in the Americas, Europe and Western
Pacific. Wastewater surveillance suggests that the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 is
two to 20 times higher than what is currently being reported. Such high
infection circulation rates in the northern hemisphere’s summer months are
atypical for respiratory viruses, which tend to spread mostly in cold
temperatures.
“In recent months, regardless of the season, many countries have experienced
surges of COVID-19, including at the Olympics where at least 40 athletes have
tested positive,” Dr. Van Kerkhove said.
As the virus continues to evolve and spread, there is a growing risk of a more
severe strain of the virus that could potentially evade detection systems and
be unresponsive to medical intervention. While COVID-19 hospital admissions,
including for Intensive Care Units (ICUs), are still much lower than they were
during the peak of the pandemic, WHO is urging governments to strengthen their
vaccination campaigns, making sure that the highest risk groups get vaccinated
once every 12 months.
“As individuals it is important to take measures to reduce risk of infection
and severe disease, including ensuring that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination
dose in the last 12 months, especially, if you are in an at-risk group,”
stressed Dr. Van Kerkhove."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: August 8, 2024
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-109690232
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
