A written statement was made regarding the “BA.2.86” variant of the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19.
In the statement, “WHO has designated the BA.2.86 variant of COVID-19 today as the ‘variant under observation’ due to the large number of mutations it carries. So far, only a few instances of the variant have been reported from several countries.” statements were included.
In the statement, which noted that more data is needed to understand this variant and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations is remarkable, “WHO will update countries and people as we learn more.” expression was used.
The statement also stated that WHO is currently tracking 3 “must watch” and 7 “under observation” COVID-19 variants.
Reminding that COVID-19 continues to spread and mutate, the WHO’s call to countries for better tracking and reporting of COVID-19 was repeated.
There is a steady increase in the prevalence of Eris
WHO published a report on the Eris variant on August 9.
According to the report, there was a steady increase in the prevalence of Eris, which was previously a “variant under observation” and whose status was changed to “variant to watch”, and as of August 7, more than 7,000 samples from 51 countries were shared.
Based on the available evidence, the public health risk posed by Eris was assessed as “globally low”, similar to the risk for other existing COVID-19 variants.
It was also noted that Eris, depending on its characteristics, could spread globally and cause an increase in cases.