WHO urges countries to strengthen surveillance in view of increasing Covid-19 cases

The World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries in Southeast Asia to strengthen surveillance for respiratory diseases, including COVID-19 and its new sub-variant JN.1, amid a recent surge in cases. The WHO also emphasized the importance of individuals taking protective measures like mask-wearing, hand hygiene, and getting vaccinated/boosted.

COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, change, and circulate in all countries globally. While current evidence suggests the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is low, we must continue to track the evolution of these viruses to tailor our response. For this, countries must strengthen surveillance and sequencing, and ensure sharing of data, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, WHO South-East Asia.

WHO classified the JN.1 subvariant of COVID-19 as a variant of interest due to its recent rapid global spread. JN.1 has been reported in several countries in recent weeks, and its prevalence has been increasing quickly worldwide.

Considering the limited available evidence, the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low at the global level, Singh said.