ecent increase in cases, surveillance of the virus and any new possible varieties is waning. According to Tedros, a WHO committee reiterated that the COVID-19 outbreak is still a public health emergency of global concern, which is how the WHO categorises pandemics.
The BA.4 and BA.5 omicron sub-variants are at the forefront of a new wave of cases that are being centred in Europe when people attend huge meetings and start travelling again after two years of staying put.
The Office for National Statistics estimates that 2.1 million people in England, or one in every 25, tested positive in the last week of June.
Even if a person has already had COVID-19, they are still susceptible to infection; nevertheless, immunisation helps to guard against serious sickness. “New waves of the virus demonstrate that COVID-19 is nowhere near over," Tedros said, adding that he is “concerned about a rising trend of deaths." The WHO stated that there is no evidence to date that BA.5 is any more severe than prior omicron variants or that vaccines and approved treatments are ineffective, noting that many governments are concerned about the BA.5 sub-lineage, particularly anecdotal evidence of the potential for re-infection.