The World Health Organization stated on Friday that there has been an 80 percent increase in newly reported Covid-19 cases worldwide over the past month. On Wednesday, the WHO designated the Omicron subvariant EG.5 as a "variant of interest" following a steady rise in its prevalence. More than 17 percent of all reported cases were EG.5 in mid-July, up from 7.6 percent a month before, according to the WHO. Subvariant poses 'low' riskEG.5, which has been unofficially nicknamed "Eris" online, is considered to be a descendant of the XBB lineage of the virus. "Health authorities urgently need to reinstate a reliable Covid health monitoring system," he said, calling for wastewater to be analysed to detect virus trends.

Source: dna August 12, 2023 19:50 UTC