WHO: Global increase in COVID-19 cases is just ‘tip of the iceberg’
This is a recommendation issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 15. At the same time, WHO warned, countries must be vigilant against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
After more than a month of decline, the number of cases COVID-19 began to increase around the world last week, with lockdowns in many Asian countries and China’s Jilin province fighting to contain a severe outbreak.
According to the World Health Organization, a combination of factors has caused the increase, including Omicron variant and BA.2 sub-strain with the ability to spread extremely quickly, as well as the lifting of social and public health restrictions.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters: “These rising numbers are happening despite some countries reducing testing, meaning the number of confirmed cases we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg.“.
WHO officials say low vaccination rates in some countries, partly due to “a large amount of misinformation”, are also responsible for the increase.
Number New cases of COVID-19 increase 8% globally from last week, with 11 million new cases and just over 43,000 new deaths reported between March 7-13. This is the first increase since late January 2022.
A COVID-19 patient waits outside a hospital in Hong Kong (China) on March 2, 2022. (Photo: Reuters)
The fact that the number of new COVID-19 cases skyrocketed was highest in the Western Pacific region, including South Korea and China, where the number of infected people increased by 25% and the number of deaths increased by 27%.
Africa also saw a 12% increase in new cases and 14% in deaths, while Europe saw a 2% increase in new cases but no increase in deaths. Other regions reported a decrease in cases, including the Eastern Mediterranean region, although the region saw a 38% increase in deaths.
Some experts fear that Europe will face another wave of epidemics, in which the number of infections has increased since the beginning of March in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK.
WHO COVID-19 technical team leader Maria Van Kerkhove said at a press conference that the BA.2 subtype appears to be the most contagious variant to date.
However, there is no indication that BA.2 causes more severe disease and there is no evidence that any other new variant is driving the increase in the number of cases.
The picture in Europe is not the general picture either. For example, Denmark saw a brief outbreak in the first half of February due to BA.2, but the number of new cases quickly dropped.
However, experts warn that the US could soon see a wave similar to that seen in Europe, likely spurred by BA.2, due to the lifting of restrictive measures and weakened immunity from vaccines given several months ago.
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