WHO warns that rising Covid cases worldwide are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that as the world begins to recover from the winter Covid wave caused by Omicron in its rearview mirror, the next wave of Covid cases may be just around the corner.

Covid cases in the United States are declining at a slow rate, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that wastewater data from parts of the country indicates an increase in cases may be imminent.

Last week, WHO reported that the number of global Covid cases rose 8% to 11 million. The biggest jump was seen in the Western Pacific, where cases rose 25% week-on-week. There was an increase of 14% in Africa and 2% in Europe.

“This increase is occurring despite reduced testing in some countries, which means that the cases we’re seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference. said. next weeks.

The agency has been more cautious than many other officials during the pandemic, often calling for masks and quarantines to continue, even as much of the world has begun to abandon them in recent weeks.

The “hidden” variant of BA.2 Omicron (pink) accounts for approximately 23% of COVID-19 cases in the US, up from 11% last week and 6% the previous week. The Omicron variant accounts for every single strain case in the Americas.

Despite increases abroad, Covid cases in the United States have dropped 14% last week, with 32,168 cases per day, one of the lowest daily averages since the start of the pandemic.

These increases have been attributed to the Omicron ‘hidden’ variant, or officially named BA.2. The stealth variant is 30% more transferable than the BA.1 strain that took over the world late last year, but an Omicron strain believed to be just as mild.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pictured) said on Wednesday that the recent increase in global Covid cases is just the “tip of the iceberg”.

Cases are rising in many parts of the world, and European countries, which are often several months ahead of the United States during the pandemic, are among those seeing alarming increases. The number of cases in the UK rose 36% last week to 91,000 a day. This comes after weeks of decline.

However, at the moment the situation in America is very positive, cases are still on the decline and the secret variant is still not taking hold in the country.

As of Thursday morning, the United States has an average of 32,168 new cases per day, a 14% drop from last week and a 96% drop from the UK’s peak of 800,000 cases per day reached in mid-January. ‘Omicron.

But the decline in the number of cases has slowed and there are early signs that the trend may soon reverse. After a rapid decline since mid-January, the number of daily cases in the United States fell to around 30,000 a day with little movement last week.

This is one of the lowest cases of infection to hit the country since the virus first broke out across the country in early 2020, but the drop in cases has slowed.

The CDC warned this week that the agency is seeing early signs of an increase in the number of cases. Wastewater data for the first decade of March show cases increasing in one-third of test sites in the United States.

Wastewater monitoring works by using sewer samples to find the prevalence of the virus in each community. It is not possible to determine which people actually tested positive for the virus or the exact number of cases, but it does give authorities a general idea of ​​how cases are developing in certain areas.

Surveillance can be more accurate than raw numbers in assessing COVID risk, as many people have asymptomatic infections that will never be tested and unknowingly spread – especially at a time when large numbers of vaccines are made and vaccinated – without being added to official totals.

Covid also shows up in the garbage before the person experiences any symptoms, meaning there is a gap between the increase in wastewater data and the increase in official data.

Dr. Amy Kirby, who leads the CDC’s wastewater monitoring, reassures the public that there is nothing to worry about, but officials are monitoring the situation.

“Although wastewater levels are very low overall, we’re seeing an increase in sites reporting an increase,” he said. NBC †

“These bumps may reflect a small increase from very lows to still lows.”

However, the current number of cases in America is so low that small increases in the number of cases should not overwhelm or overwhelm health systems.

CDC Warns Sewer Data Shows U.S. Cases of Covid Could Increase Soon

The country also has a high vaccination rate, with nearly 90 percent of American adults receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine, warns nearly 100 million Americans.

BA.2 failed to catch on in the United States, as did most of Europe. While the ‘hidden’ variety quickly became dominant in the UK and Denmark when it was first discovered earlier this year, it has yet to make a big impact in the US.

According to the latest data released by the CDC on Tuesday, BA.2 represents 23% of active Covid cases in the US, with BA.1 still dominant.

The Omicron variant accounts for every single case in the United States as a whole, and it’s the highly permeable, vaccine-resistant strain that completely eliminated the Delta variant this year, according to the CDC.

However, the share of BA.2 Covid infections in America is growing rapidly, with the variant responsible for just 11% of cases last week and just 6% the previous week.

It is most common in New Jersey and New York and in the northeastern regions of the United States, accounting for approximately 40% of cases in both areas identified.

While the strain has taken its place in many parts of Europe, it is not yet the dominant Covid strain anywhere in the Americas.