WHO sees 'concerning trends' for COVID-19 ahead of winter season in northern hemisphere

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to see "concerning trends" for COVID-19 ahead of the winter season in the northern hemisphere, the UN health body's chief said Wednesday.

"Deaths are increasing in some parts of the Middle East and Asia, intensive care unit admissions are increasing in Europe and hospitalizations are increasing in several regions," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing in Geneva.

Tedros lamented about the limited data as only 43 countries -- less than a quarter of WHO member states -- are reporting deaths to WHO, and only 20 provide information on hospitalizations.

He said that there is not one coronavirus variant that is dominant globally.

The variant of interest EG.5 is on the rise, he said, while the XBB subvariants are declining. The BA.2.86 variant has been detected in small numbers in 11 countries, he added.

- 65% of population has no access to health services in Sudan

Regarding the health crisis in Sudan amid conflict, Tedros warned that the humanitarian situation is continuing to deteriorate.

"About 65% of the population has no access to health services and more than 70% of health facilities in conflict areas are not functioning," he said. "The implications are horrific. Every day, nine patients with renal dialysis die, and dialysis centres in four states have closed due to lack of supplies."

Additionally, he said, the attack on health sector continued to increase as WHO has verified 56 attacks on health care so far, leading to 11 deaths and 38 injuries.

Noting that the crisis in the country has displaced close to 5 million people, including 1 million who have fled to neighboring countries, he said: "The health situation at Sudan’s borders is dire, with a combination of disease outbreaks, impact of extreme weather events, hunger and malnutrition."

- 650 people died from dengue since April in Bangladesh

Underlining that Bangladesh is experiencing its "most severe outbreak of dengue on record," the WHO chief said that since the outbreak began in April, more than 135,000 cases and 650 deaths have been reported, including 300 deaths reported in August alone.

"The dengue outbreak is putting huge pressure on the health system," Tedros warned regarding the serious illness, which is most commonly a viral infection spread through the bites of mosquitoes from one person to the other.

He noted that cases are starting to decline in the capital Dhaka, however, they are increasing in other parts of the country.

- 2nd wave of diphtheria in Nigeria

More than 9000 suspected cases have been reported across 17 states of Nigeria during the second wafe of the diphtheria outbreak in 2023, Tedros said.

Diptheria, which is a highly contagious but vaccine-preventable disease, killed 307 people so far, he added.

The disease caused by a bacterium which can be fatal in 5 to 10% of cases, with a higher mortality rate in young children.