WHO puts coronavirus variant on watch list

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According to prior knowledge, the symptoms are the same as in other variants. XBB.1.16 or Arcturus – the name comes from the brightest star in the northern sky – was first reported in January. The variant now accounts for 4.2 percent of the 3,000 virus sequences submitted. A month ago that was only 0.5 percent.

“This variant could continue to spread around the world and lead to an increase in cases,” Ryan said. However, there are currently no signs of it causing more serious disease progression. According to the federal government, there was still no evidence of the omicron variant XBB.1.16 in Switzerland at the end of March.

There are seven variants on the watch list (variants under VUMs monitoring) and one is at the next higher level, Variant of Interest (VOI). There are currently no variants of concern (VOC) listed

The emergency committee, which advises the WHO whether the highest alert level should continue to apply for the corona pandemic, will meet again in the first week of May. He discusses whether to recommend that the WHO lift the “Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC).

According to Ryan, many countries are at a point where they have relatively few serious diseases with high vaccination rates. For them, the corona virus is no longer an emergency, but that does not apply to all countries, says Ryan. Within four weeks, three million infections were still reported – although testing is scarce in many places – and more than 23,000 deaths related to the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

It is hoped that there will be as little virus activity as possible in the near future and that the number of cases will only increase seasonally, similar to flu or RSV viruses. “We’re not getting rid of the virus,” Ryan said. It will continue to cause serious illness.

(SDA)

Source: Blick