The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that governments around the world are unprepared for a global surge in COVID-19 that is putting millions of people at risk of severe illness and death.
“COVID-19 is still with us,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday (6/8).
“The virus is circulating in all countries. Data from our sentinel-based surveillance systems in 84 countries report that the percentage of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been increasing for several weeks,” he said.
Not only is COVID-19 surging in many countries across the seasons, he added, at least 40 Olympic athletes have tested positive in Paris, despite efforts by local authorities to protect the Games venues from the spread of infectious diseases.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously declared the COVID-19 pandemic as an international health threat to end on May 5, 2023. Since then, WHO has received little official information from world countries regarding the number of new infections, deaths and other vital information.
This then prompted health agency officials to scour government websites, looking at health ministry reports to determine monthly trends in hospitalizations related to COVID-19 infections.
“On the hospitalization rate, we've seen an increase in the Americas. We've seen an increase in Europe. In the last few months, we've seen an increase in the Western Pacific,” Van Kerkhove said. “Thirty-five countries out of 234 countries and territories have provided this information. So, about 15% of the countries and territories that we have have this information to share with us.”
Based on wastewater surveillance, WHO officials have determined that circulation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is two to 20 times higher than currently reported.
“This is important because viruses are constantly evolving and changing, which puts us all at risk of getting a potentially more severe form of the virus that could evade our detection and/or medical interventions, including vaccination,” Van Kerkhove said.
Over the past two years, he noted that there has been a “worrying decline in vaccine coverage,” especially among health workers and the elderly, “two of the groups most at risk.”
“I am concerned,” Van Kerkhove said. “With coverage that low, with circulation that high, if we have a more severe variant, the vulnerability of the population at risk is huge. It's huge in every country.”
WHO officials noted that governments and their communities have been lulled into complacency, as the impact of COVID-19 is now smaller than during the pandemic. But they also warned that it could turn worse as immunity gained through previous infection, and protection gained through vaccination, wears off.
WHO says every country can and must do more to prevent the current global surge from turning into a full-blown pandemic.
The global health body urged all countries to continue to sharpen their pandemic preparedness, readiness and response systems “to be ready for surges of COVID-19 and other emerging and re-emerging pathogens,” such as H5N1 avian influenza, smallpox and dengue fever.
WHO recommends that people in vulnerable groups receive a COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of their last dose. To increase uptake and protection, WHO recommends that people receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the seasonal flu vaccine.
“Getting vaccinated with one of the approved vaccines will protect you from severe disease and death,” Van Kerkhove said. “It will lower your risk of severe disease. It will also lower your risk of post-COVID conditions,” also known as Long COVID. (th/ab)
