World 'playing with fire' as new Covid-19 variants emerge, warns WHO

Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to these numbers.”  File photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP

The world is “playing with fire” as new Covid-19 variants emerge, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned adding that there must now be fairer access to vaccines to help end the pandemic.

A further 8,370 people died in the last week from Covid-19 worldwide. The number of Covid patients in Irish hospitals climbed again yesterday reaching 459, although intensive care numbers remained stable, dropping one to 23.

More than one-in-four of those who took a PCR test here were positive with the rate standing at 27.5%. The renewed surge has been linked to new Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are more transmissible than previous variants, and now make up almost half of cases here.

At a press briefing, the WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said: “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to these numbers.”  He said there should be no acceptable number of deaths when tools like vaccines and antivirals are available.

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“Many of us who live in high-income countries have access to those tools, we now take them for granted,” he said. “But for many people around the world, these tools remain scarce commodities.” 

The increase in cases is varying by region, with WHO Covid-19 technical lead Dr Maria Van Kerkove noting a 58% increase in cases across the eastern Mediterranean. “It is far from over,” she added. 

She called on people to travel and socialise safely, to continue wearing masks where appropriate, and to report positive test results so the virus can be accurately tracked.

She said: 

Without testing, without sequencing, without public health measures in place, we are really playing with fire because we know this virus continues to evolve.

She warned about Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 and said American scientists are now also tracking Omicron BA.2.12.1. “This is far from over from a virus evolution point of view,” she said. 

“The good news is that the vaccines continue to work. This is why we continue to need to push for vaccination coverage around the world.” 

Monkeypox and other viruses

The WHO medics also shared their growing concern about the spread of the monkeypox virus.

There have now been more than 1,600 reported cases worldwide and an additional 1,500 are under investigation. Cases have been identified in 39 countries including 32 where the disease has not previously been endemic.

There have been 72 deaths this year, all in the seven countries where monkeypox is common. In Ireland, nine cases were identified up to Friday among men aged between 30 and 50.

Dr Tedros described the growing number of cases as “clearly unusual and concerning”. He said a new official name for the virus will be announced shortly.

Dr Kerkove also briefly discussed an unusual form of hepatitis being identified in children. She said there have now been 704 cases and probable cases around the world across 34 countries. An additional 112 are under investigation, she said.

Up to one week ago there were 13 probable cases in Ireland including two children who needed a liver transplant, and tragically one child who died.