Geneva, July 14 (BNA) The number of new coronavirus cases worldwide has risen for the fifth consecutive week, while the number of deaths has remained relatively stable, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
In the UN health agency’s weekly review of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization said 5.7 million new infections were confirmed last week, which is an increase of 6%. The Associated Press (AP) reported that there were 9,800 deaths, roughly the same as the previous week’s number.
Earlier this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the pandemic was still considered a global emergency and he was “concerned” about the recent spike.
“The virus is freely transmitted, and countries are not managing the burden of disease effectively,” he said during a news conference on Tuesday. “New waves of the virus are showing once again that COVID-19 is far from over.”
In the past two weeks, COVID-19 cases reported to WHO have increased by 30%, driven largely by the highly infectious omicron relatives, BA.4 and BA.5. The two sub-variables of Omicron showed a worrying ability to re-infect people who had previously been vaccinated or who had recovered from COVID.
According to the World Health Organization, the largest increases in COVID-19 cases were seen in the Western Pacific and the Middle East, where they jumped by more than a quarter. Deaths rose by 78% in the Middle East and by 23% in Southeast Asia, while elsewhere they decreased or remained stable.
The World Health Organization said that loosened surveillance and testing programs for COVID-19 in many countries have complicated efforts to track the virus and catch any new potentially dangerous variants.
In the United States, new omicron variables have increased hospital admissions and deaths in recent weeks, prompting some cities and states to rethink their approaches. White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr Ashish Jha, during a television appearance on Wednesday, called for boosted shots and a renewed vigil against the virus.
The White House response team also urged all adults 50 and older to get boosters urgently if they didn’t do so this year — and dissuaded people from waiting for the next generation of shots expected in the fall.
AOQ