“In recent months, (…) many countries have experienced outbreaks of Covid-19, including at the Olympic Games, where at least 40 athletes have tested positive,” she said, asserting that the Olympic Committee, in collaboration with the WHO, “has looked at all the different approaches that need to be put in place” at mass gatherings such as the Olympics and taken “the right measures.”
She stressed that the virus is “still very present” in the world, circulating “in all countries”.
Data collected by WHO through the sentinel surveillance system in 84 countries show that the percentage of positive tests has increased in recent weeks.
E. coli bacteria, incubation period, “rat disease”: is the water of the Seine really responsible for the death of Belgian Claire Michel?
This increase has “led to an increase in the number of hospitalizations and deaths in several countries,” Van Kerkhove said.
“Overall, the rate of positive tests is higher than 10%, but this figure varies from one region to another,” with for example a rate higher than 20% in Europe, she detailed.
But she stressed that wastewater monitoring suggests that virus circulation is “two to 20 times higher than what is currently reported.”
“This is important because the virus continues to evolve, putting us all at risk of more dangerous viruses emerging that could escape our control,” she warned.
She said such high circulation of Covid-19 “is not usual” at this time of year because respiratory virus outbreaks tend to spike when it’s cold.
WHO continues to call on governments to improve surveillance of the virus and for people to protect themselves, including through vaccination. But Van Kerkhove noted that the current situation remains different from 2020-2022 because the world now has treatments, testing tools and vaccines.
But WHO has seen an alarming decline in vaccination coverage over the past two years, she said, particularly among health workers and people over 60. “There is an urgent need to address this situation,” Van Kerkhove said.
