WHO and US health authorities tracking new Covid-19 variant; nations on alert after breakout in Britain

MANILA (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): The World Health Organisation (WHO) and US health authorities said Friday night that they are closely monitoring a new variant of Covid-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.

The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance “due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries”, it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.

The strain was first detected in Denmark on July 24 and was also found in that country on July 31, the same day it was discovered in Israel.

A case in the US was detected earlier this month.

On Saturday, it was also reported that the new coronavirus variant with a "high number of mutations” has been detected in Britain.

The BA.2.86 mutation was identified in the UK on Friday in someone with no recent travel history, the British Health Security Agency said.

This means there could already be "significant community transmission” among Britons, the agency added.

The variant is said to be gnomically distant from its likely ancestor the BA.2 variant, nicknamed "stealth Omicron”.

That variant gained its nickname from the fact it is more transmissible than the original Omicron strain, which originated in southern Africa and was first detected in the UK in late 2021.

The UKHSA said there is "insufficient data” to assess the new strain’s relative severity or how likely it is to evade the protection offered by vaccines compared to other currently-circulating variants.

The agency said it would continue to monitor the spread of the variant closely while checks to determine the risks it may pose continue.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed it is also closely monitoring the variant, in a message on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

There are only four known sequences of the variant, the WHO has said.

“The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations is presently unknown and undergoing careful assessment,” the WHO said.

The WHO is currently monitoring upwards of 10 variants and their descent lineages.

Most countries that had established surveillance systems for the virus have since dismantled operations, determining it is no longer as severe and therefore could not justify the expense — a move the WHO has denounced, calling instead for stronger monitoring.

In the last reporting period between July 17 and August 13, more than 1.4 million new cases of Covid-19 were detected and more than 2,300 deaths reported, according to a WHO statement.

The case load represents a rise by 63 percent from the previous 28-day period while deaths were down by 56 percent.

As of August 13, there were more than 769 million cases of Covid-19 confirmed and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide, although the real toll is expected to be much higher because many cases went undetected. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN