New BA.2.75 Omicron variant becoming difficult to track: WHO explains why
- Our understanding of Omicron BA.2.75 is quite limited because we have very few sequences available, WHO official stated
World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday warned that its ability to track the COVID virus is reducing as the rate of testing and surveillance has dropped significantly across the world. And with so many variants (that are loosely tracked) circulating at the same time is a perfect environment for new strains to emerge, a UN health agency expert pointed out.
Why it is becoming difficult to track new variants?
During the weekly briefing on COVID on Tuesday, WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove explained, “Our ability to track the variants is dependent on surveillance of the virus, the testing that is taking place, and sequences that are conducted and shared so that scientists across the world can access them. And our ability to track the COVID virus is reducing and that is because surveillance has significantly reduced globally.”
So it is extremely crucial that we maintain the surveillance in fact increase and strengthen them so that we can track the known variant as well as detect new strains, the expert further added.
Speaking about how difficult it is becoming to track new variants, Van Kerkhove said, “In particular, for BA.2.75, there are very few sequences that are available. There are about 200 sequences available from about 14 countries. Our understanding of this virus is quite limited so far because we have very few sequences available.”
Watch full video here:
The virus is moving free: WHO chief
Meanwhile, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that fresh surges of Covid infections show the pandemic is nowhere near over. He further warned that the virus is running free.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was worried that case numbers were shooting up, putting more strain on health systems and workers.
He also pointed out that surveillance has dropped significantly, adding, "making it increasingly difficult to assess the impact of variants on transmission, disease characteristics, and the effectiveness of counter-measures."
Furthermore, tests, treatments and vaccines are not being deployed effectively.
"The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity," he said, both in terms of hospitalisation of acute cases and the expanding number of people with Long Covid.
The number of Covid cases reported to the WHO increased 30 percent in the past two weeks, driven by sub-variants of the Omicron strain and the lifting of control measures.
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First Published:12 Jul 2022, 10:09 PM IST
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