Be prepared for new COVID wave: WHO chief scientist warns amid reports of new variants, rising DEATH rate

"We need to be prepared for these COVID-19 waves- each new variant will be more transmissible, and immune evasive- higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalizations and sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations," Soumya Swaminathan said.

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New Delhi: Two years and many variants later, Covid-19 is still not done with the world. In the latest update, the World Health Organisation chief scientist, while noting that each new Covid variant is more transmissible and immune evasive, warned that ‘We need to be prepared for new waves’. Amid the reports of several Omicron variants circulating at the same time, the concerns over fresh Covid waves has once again surfaced, forcing the global health body chief scientist to post a note of caution. 

"We need to be prepared for these COVID-19 waves- each new variant will be more transmissible, and immune evasive- higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalizations and sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations," Soumya Swaminathan wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

We need to be prepared for these #COVID19 waves- each new #variant will be more transmissible & immune evasive- higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalizations & sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations https://t.co/qAKPIyG8os — Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) July 14, 2022

In her tweet, Swaminathan also attached a thread by Philip Schellekens, Senior Advisor at World Bank Group. "We're seeing a global U-turn in COVID-19 mortality. Following months of decline, it has started to rise again. Not a big surprise given: properties of BA.5, relaxed attitudes towards infection control, 3/4 of the world not being up-to-date on vaccination." he had tweeted.

In another post, he shared data to highlight that about three-fourth of the world is yet to get booster doses. 

Meanwhile, many countries like Japan, France and New Zealand are reporting a spike in coronavirus infections, according to reports. 

India recorded 20,038 new Covid-19 cases, 47 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 5,25,604, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Friday. The active cases stand at 1,39,073. The country also reported 16,994 recoveries in a day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,30,45,350, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.20 per cent.

An increase of 2,997 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The ministry also informed that the active cases comprise 0.32 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.48 per cent.