The WHO named the countries of distribution of the new variant of COVID-19

A new variant of the omicron strain of CORONAVIRUS infection BA.2.86 has been discovered in Switzerland and South Africa, as well as in Israel, Denmark, the usa and the UK . This was announced in an interview with REUTERS by Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on covid-19 . The sequencing of this variant of the omicron strain was announced on August 18 by the DIRECTOR general of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, but he did not provide any details at that time.

For the first time, a new variant of omicron was identified in Denmark on July 24. it has since been detected in other patients with covid symptoms , in routine COVID screening at airports, and in sewage samples from several countries, Reuters reported. The BA.2.86 variant carries more than 35 mutations in key parts of the virus compared to the previous XBB.1.5 omicron version, which was the most prevalent for most of 2023, Kerkhove said.

WHO considers that existing tests and treatments are likely to be effective against BA.2.86. However, this variant is capable of causing infection in vaccinated people and those who have previously had COVID. So far, there is no evidence that it causes more severe illness or spreads faster.

The Center for Disease Control in the United States also reported the emergence of a new strain. In total, as of August 23, nine cases of BA.2.86 infection were detected - three in Denmark, two in South Africa, one in Israel, two cases in the US and one in the UK. The organization did not report about the appearance of this option in Switzerland.

Maria Van Kerkhove told Reuters that all known cases are unrelated. This suggests that the virus is already spreading widely, especially given the reduction in epidemiological surveillance and non-compliance with coronavirus restrictions in much of the world, the expert explained. However, according to WHO experts, the potential risk must be taken seriously.

WHO declared that the situation with the spread of coronavirus can be described as a pandemic in March 2020. In May 2023, the organization announced its end.

According to WHO, by mid-August, 769 million cases of coronavirus infection were registered in the world, 6.9 million people died from the disease. On August 18, WHO reported an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in the world by 60% in 28 days. About 1.4 million people became infected with coronavirus infection in the world from July 17 to August 13, more than 2.3 thousand died.

On August 10, WHO warned about the spread of a new strain of coronavirus EG.5 "Eris", this strain was registered in February. In RUSSIA, this variant of the coronavirus has not yet become widespread, but there are risks of complicating the epidemiological situation, Rospotrebnadzor reported. At present, a new variant of the omicron strain has been identified in 51 states; this variant is spreading in CHINA, the USA, Great Britain, Europe and Asia.