On 18 August 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) and US health authorities said 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 on 17 August 2023.
So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the US. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed that 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 new Covid-19 variant, the WHO has said. “The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations is presently unknown and undergoing careful assessment,” the WHO revealed. It is currently monitoring more than 10 variants and their descent lineages.
Most countries that had established surveillance systems for the virus have since dismantled operations. Since it was not considered as severe any longer, they could not justify the expense. However, the WHO has denounced this move, calling instead for stronger monitoring. According to a WHO statement, in the last reporting period between July 17 and August 13, more than 1.4 million new cases of Covid-19 were detected and over 2,300 deaths were reported. The caseload represents a rise of 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 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide. However, the real toll is expected to be much higher because many cases went undetected.
