WHO tracking 'about 200' sub-lineages of Omicron Covid variant

Technical lead for the WHO on Covid-19, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, said Omicron now makes up 99% of all Covid-cases.

Weekly deaths from Covid-19 around the world now stand at just 10% of the weekly totals during January 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

Director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they can now see the end of the pandemic in sight. “The number of weekly deaths continues to decline. They are now just 10% of what they were at the peak in January 2021,” he said.

He added: “But 10,000 deaths a week is 10,000 too many, most of these deaths could be prevented.”

Vaccination rates are improving with two-thirds of the world’s population now protected, he said, while raising concerns about access for the remaining countries. He urged that people continue this winter to also use simple protective tools including ventilation, distancing, and mask-wearing where appropriate.

Dr Tedros welcomed an agreement between the Global Fund and pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer to supply Paxlovid, a Covid-19 treatment, to low and middle-income countries. Addressing a media briefing, he called for closer political support to tackle Covid-19 on a worldwide basis.

Technical lead for the WHO on Covid-19, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, said Omicron now makes up 99% of all Covid-cases.

“There are about 200 sub-lineages of Omicron that we are tracking at the moment,” she said.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

“At the moment BA.5 and even further sub-variants of BA.5 we are tracking. Other ones we have on our radar are BA.2.75 and further sub-variants of that. As well as BA.4.6 and BF.7 which is a variant of BA.5.”

She also urged individuals and Governments to take measures to reduce the spread of the disease. “The more this virus circulates, the more opportunities it has to change,” she said. 

This is something we are deeply concerned about.

She warned that the world’s ability to track the virus is diminishing as countries wind down their testing and genome sequencing abilities.

Dr Tedros also address the monkeypox crisis, saying “the number of weekly reported cases continues to decline.” In all, over 62,000 cases have been reported to the WHO from 105 countries now.

“The trends are encouraging,” he said. “But as with Covid-19 this is not the time for any country or community to assume those trends will continue.” 

He also called for greater support for the Global Fund, an international alliance of donors and agencies tackling AIDS, TB and malaria.

It emerged earlier this week the fund faces a shortfall in the $18bn (€18.2bn) needed for the next three-year funding cycle, with some countries having yet to contribute including the UK.