WHO: Global COVID-19 Cases Spike 80% in One Month

Globally reported COVID-19 instances elevated 80% over the previous month in comparison with the earlier month, in accordance with the World Well being Group.

Almost 1.5 million infections have been reported from July 10 to Aug. 6, the U.N. well being company mentioned in its weekly coronavirus report revealed Thursday. South Korea is usually driving the rise in reported instances, reporting greater than 1.2 million infections over the previous month.

However the true variety of international infections is definitely a lot greater, contemplating the drastic decline in coronavirus testing.

“At present, reported instances don’t precisely characterize an infection charges as a result of discount in testing and reporting globally,” WHO acknowledged. “Throughout this 28-day interval, 44% (103 of 234) of nations reported at the very least one case to WHO – a proportion that has been declining since mid-2022.”

Given the widespread decline in testing, it’s unclear what the localized coronavirus spike in South Korea means for the worldwide COVID-19 state of affairs going ahead. South Korea, together with different international locations, is coping with a quickly spreading EG.5 coronavirus variant that WHO just lately said might “trigger an increase in case incidence.”

In keeping with WHO, the prevalence of EG.5 globally greater than doubled from June to July, rising from practically 8% of world instances to greater than 17%.

Whereas South Korea and different international locations are additionally seeing a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, WHO says it isn’t as a result of EG.5 is extra extreme than different strains.

“Whereas concurrent will increase within the proportion of EG.5 and COVID-19 hospitalizations (decrease than earlier waves) have been noticed in international locations equivalent to Japan and the Republic of Korea, no associations have been made between these hospitalizations and EG.5,” it acknowledged in a threat evaluation published this week.

The U.S. can be seeing a small increase in hospitalizations as EG.5 spreads.