New fast-spreading COVID pressure designated ‘variant of curiosity’ by WHO

A brand new fast-spreading COVID pressure has been designated a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organisation.

EG.5 is descended from the Omicron variant of coronavirus and is rising in prevalence globally, together with within the UK, US and China.

It has been detected in 51 nations in whole, together with South Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore, France, Portugal and Spain.

In the week starting 19 June, one in 13 instances had been right down to the COVID variant.

The newest information suggests it now accounts for 17.4% of instances – one in six – which the WHO described as a “notable rise”.

However, it mentioned the general public well being danger posed by EG.5 has been judged as low.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, mentioned EG.5 has an elevated transmissibility however shouldn’t be extra extreme than different Omicron variants.

“Collectively, available evidence does not suggest that EG.5 has additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages,” the WHO mentioned in a danger analysis.

“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” it added.

EG.5 consists of subvariant EG.5.1 – which T. Ryan Gregory, a biology professor, has nicknamed “Eris” in posts on social media.

Last week, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) mentioned EG.5.1 now makes up one in seven new cases in the UK.

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The WHO replace comes amid a fall in COVID reporting.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus mentioned solely 11% of nations are reporting hospitalisations and ICU admissions associated to the virus – hindering efforts to combat it.

He has urged nations to not let down their guard, and to proceed reporting COVID information and provide vaccination.

COVID-19 has killed greater than 6.9 million individuals globally, with greater than 768 million confirmed instances for the reason that virus emerged.

WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic in March 2020 and ended the worldwide emergency standing for COVID in May this yr.