WHO: Covid-19 virus continues to evolve, new variants will emerge

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid-19 virus continues to evolve, and its new variants will emerge in the days to come. The Covid-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, released by WHO on Tuesday, said that the Omicron variant remains the dominant variant circulating globally.

The top health body said that it is continuing to monitor 'several descendent lineages' of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, including two new sublineages that have additional mutations associated with potential "immune escape characteristics.

The WHO said it continues to monitor several descendent lineages under the Omicron Variant of Concern, including BA.1, BA.2, BA.3 as well as now BA.4 and BA.5. It also includes BA.1/BA.2 circulating recombinant forms, such as XE.

It added that it is working with scientists to further assess the characteristics of these lineages and their public health implications. "WHO recommends countries to continue surveillance, where possible, and rapid data sharing on publicly available databases."

According to WHO, the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve. With such intense transmission worldwide, further variants, including recombinants, will emerge.

WHO is tracking the two new sublineages (BA.4 and BA.5) as part of the Omicron variant. These variants have additional mutations that need to be further studied to understand their impact on immune escape potential.

Only a few dozen sequences of these variants have been reported from a handful of countries.

WHO is working with scientists to better understand their current spread as well as any potential impact they may have. WHO said that Omicron's properties of immune escape have been associated with the rapid and almost synchronous increase in the global incidence of Covid-19 cases reported until the end of January 2022.

A further increase observed at the beginning of March was driven primarily by a delayed increase in case of incidences in the Western Pacific Region and a rebound in the number of new cases reported in the European Region.

The WHO update added that globally, during the week of April 4 through 10, the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths has continued to decline for a third consecutive week, with over 7 million cases and over 22,000 deaths reported, a decrease of 24 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, as compared to the previous week.

All regions reported decreasing trends in the number of new weekly cases and deaths. As of April 10, over 496 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally.

Over 11 billion vaccine doses have been distributed globally. WHO however noted that substantial inequities remain, with only 11 per cent of those in low-income countries (LICs) having completed the primary series and major differences among regions, with vaccination coverage ranging from 82 per cent in the Western Pacific Region to 13 per cent in the African Region.