Nearly 10,000 died from Covid-19 last month, fuelled by gatherings and new variant, WHO says
- Covid-19 JN.1 variant is now the most commonly-reported around the globe, WHO says
- Nearly 10,000 deaths, 42 per cent increase in hospitalisations reported to the WHO last month
The head of the UN health agency said holiday gatherings and the spread of the most prominent variant globally led to increased transmission of Covid-19 last month.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42 per cent in nearly 50 countries – mostly in Europe and the Americas – that shared such trend information.
“Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable,” the World Health Organization director general told reporters from its headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday.
He said it was “certain” that cases were on the rise in other places that haven’t been reporting, calling on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines.
Tedros said the JN.1 variant was now the most prominent in the world. It is an Omicron variant, so current vaccines should still provide some protection.
Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at WHO for Covid-19, cited an increase in respiratory diseases across the globe due to the coronavirus but also flu, rhinovirus and pneumonia.