Image Source : PTI (FILE) COVID-19 replace: WHO asks nations to strengthen surveillance as coronavirus instances rise
COVID-19 replace: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged nations in South-East Asia to strengthen surveillance given the rising instances of respiratory illnesses, together with attributable to COVID-19 and its new sub-variant JN.1, and influenza. The WHO additionally urged individuals to take protecting measures.
“The COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, change, and flow into in all nations globally. While present proof suggests the extra public well being threat posed by JN.1 is low, we should proceed to trace the evolution of those viruses to tailor our response.
“For this, countries must strengthen surveillance and sequencing, and ensure sharing of data,” stated Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia.
Know extra about ‘variant of curiosity’:
WHO has categorised JN.1 as a variant of curiosity following its fast world unfold. In current weeks, JN.1 was reported in a number of nations, and its prevalence has been quickly rising globally. Considering the restricted out there proof, the extra public well being threat posed by JN.1 is presently evaluated as low on the world degree, Singh stated.
It is anticipated that this variant might trigger a rise in COVID-19 instances amid surge of infections of different viral and bacterial infections, particularly in nations getting into the winter season.
“As people travel and gather for festivities during the holiday season, spending a lot of time together indoors where poor ventilation facilitates transmission of viruses that cause respiratory diseases, they must take protective measures and seek timely clinical care when unwell,” stated Dr Khetrapal Singh.
The regional director additionally emphasised on the significance of vaccination towards COVID-19 and influenza, particularly for individuals at excessive threat.
“All WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines continue to protect against severe diseases and deaths from all variants including JN.1,” she stated.
In May, following a sustained decline within the trajectory of COVID-19 instances, hospitalisations and deaths, and excessive ranges of inhabitants immunity to SARS-CoV2, WHO declared that COVID-19 not constituted a public well being emergency of worldwide concern. While appreciable progress has been made in establishing and strengthening a world system to detect and quickly assess dangers posed by SARS-CoV2, testing and reporting of COVID-19 instances has decreased.
With COVID-19 persevering with to flow into at excessive ranges globally, nations should strengthen surveillance, sequencing, and reporting to successfully handle respiratory illnesses and to guard individuals’s well being, the regional director stated.
(With PTI inputs)
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