Covid-19: Fresh global rise in cases only tip of the iceberg, says WHO
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid fresh spurt in Covid-19 infections in China, South Korea, and other countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said the rise in global pandemic cases is only “the tip of the iceberg”.
Alarmed, India’s Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia held an important high-level meeting of officials on Wednesday to assess the situation and prepare a roadmap for any emergency in the coming weeks, according to media reports.
BA.2, the new sub-variant of highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus, has so far been detected in nearly 75 countries. In the US, around 25 percent of new cases come from this sub-variant.
“Surges are to be expected particularly in areas where measures to prevent transmission have been lifted,’ WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday.
South Korea reported over 400,000 fresh cases on Tuesday and 600,000 on Wednesday.
In China, Covid-19 cases have hit a two-year high with thousands of infections reported daily—despite its zero-Covid policies and harsh measures to prevent the spread—and millions have been thrown in lockdowns in north-eastern provinces.
Numbers showing a global rise in Covid-19 cases could herald a much bigger problem as some countries also report a drop in testing rates, the global health watchdog said, warning countries to remain vigilant against the coronavirus variants.
After more than a month of decline, the Covid-19 cases started increasing around the world last week, the health agency said, with lockdowns in Asia and China’s Jilin province battling to contain fresh outbreaks.
A combination of factors was causing the increases, including the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its cousin the BA.2 sub-variant, and the lifting of public health and social measures, the media, quoting the WHO, said.
“These increases are occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we’re seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” Dr. Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Low vaccination rates in some countries, driven partly by a “huge amount of misinformation” also explained the rise, according to the WHO officials.
Fresh infections jumped by 8 percent globally compared to the previous week, with 11 million new cases and just over 43,000 new deaths reported from March 7 to13. It is the first rise since January’s end.
The biggest jump was in the WHO’s Western Pacific region, which includes South Korea and China, where cases rose by 25 percent and deaths by 27 percent.
Africa also saw a 12 percent rise in new cases and 14 percent in deaths, and Europe a 2 percent rise in cases but no jump in deaths.
Other regions reported declining cases, including the eastern Mediterranean region, although this area saw a 38 percent rise in deaths linked to a previous spike in infections.
Experts are worried that Europe faces another coronavirus wave, with cases rising since the beginning of March in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
The WHO’s Technical Head for Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron might be the most transmissible variant so far. But there are no signs that it causes more severe disease and no evidence that any other new variants are driving the rise in cases.
Experts are, however, warning the United States could soon see a similar wave to that seen in Europe, potentially driven by BA.2, the lifting of restrictions, and potential waning immunity from vaccines given several months ago.
