WHO Warns of Rising COVID-19 Cases Linked to New Variant NB.1.8.1
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning over a recent uptick in global COVID-19 infections, linked to the emergence of a newly identified variant, NB.1.8.1, which is currently under investigation by health authorities.
Although preliminary assessments indicate that the NB.1.8.1 variant does not present a higher health risk compared to earlier strains, WHO cautioned that the virus's ongoing evolution could spark new waves of infection. The organisation stated that the current surge appears consistent with the virus's seasonal transmission patterns.
Despite the increase in cases, WHO noted that the need for hospitalisation and intensive care remains limited, thanks to widespread immunity built through vaccinations and past infections.
In its latest assessment, the global health body has classified the overall global risk level as 'high.' It has called on countries to reinforce their public health systems, integrate COVID-19 management into broader seasonal respiratory disease strategies, and counter the spread of misinformation.
WHO also urged individuals to continue adhering to basic preventive measures, such as mask-wearing in crowded spaces, frequent handwashing, and staying updated with vaccination schedules, to help curb further spread.
The organisation emphasized that vigilance, timely data sharing, and coordinated public health responses remain critical as the world navigates the next chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Insider
2 days ago
- Gulf Insider
More Fetal Losses Than Expected After Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccination In Israel: Study
A higher-than-expected number of miscarriages and other forms of fetal loss were associated with COVID-19 vaccinations in Israel, a new study has revealed. Researchers found 13 fetal losses—four more than the nine expected—for every 100 pregnant women who received a COVID-19 vaccine during weeks eight to 13 in pregnancy, according to the study, which was published as a preprint on the medRxiv server. Most people in Israel, including pregnant women, received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer did not respond by publication time to a request for comment. The team behind the study includes Retsef Levi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher who was recently named to the committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, and Dr. Tracy Hoeg, who works for the Food and Drug Administration. The researchers analyzed electronic health records from Maccabi Healthcare Services, one of four organizations that provide health care to Israelis. They looked at 226,395 pregnancies that occurred between March 1, 2016, and Feb. 28, 2022. The primary analysis looked at fetal loss for pregnant women after dose one or dose three of a COVID-19 vaccine, with fetal loss including miscarriage, abortion, and stillbirth. The researchers came up with an expected number of fetal losses based on a model that drew from data before the COVID-19 pandemic, then compared the expected number of fetal losses with those that occurred from week eight of pregnancy onward. They identified 13,214 fetal losses after the COVID-19 pandemic started, compared with 12,846 fetal losses in the reference period, finding that women who received a COVID-19 vaccine during weeks eight to 13 in pregnancy experienced a higher-than-expected number of fetal losses. 'If you believe this result … every 100 women that you would vaccinate during weeks eight to 13, you are going to see close to four additional fetal losses,' Levi told The Epoch Times. The researchers cautioned that more information is required to say for sure that the vaccines cause fetal losses. They also noted that when they carried out the same analysis for pregnant women who received a COVID-19 vaccine during weeks 14 to 27, the number of fetal losses was lower than expected. An additional analysis of pregnant women who received an influenza vaccine from March 1, 2018, to Feb. 28, 2019, also found a lower-than-expected number of fetal losses. The researchers said those results could stem from what is known as healthy vaccine bias—the data could be skewed because people who receive vaccines are typically healthier than those who do not. Maccabi Healthcare Services did not return an inquiry by publication time. Dr. Yaakov Segal, head of obstetrics and gynecology medicine at the organization, is one of the paper's co-authors. Israel's Ministry of Health and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which encourages pregnant women to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in any trimester, did not respond to requests for comment by publication time. 'Generally, medical advice to pregnant women follows the precautionary principle and is based on sound and careful research,' Josh Guetzkow, researcher with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and another study co-author, told The Epoch Times via email. 'Our study shows just how irresponsible it was for our health authorities to abandon these core principles.' COVID-19 vaccination was recommended for pregnant women in Israel and the United States early in the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the clinical trials for the vaccines excluded pregnant women. Moderna's clinical trial for pregnant women was ultimately terminated, while Pfizer ended its trial early after enrolling just 175 women. The latter found slightly lower COVID-19 incidence among the vaccinated when compared with those who received a placebo. Some observational studies have determined that pregnant women benefit from COVID-19 vaccination. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently narrowed its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and no longer advises COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy. The new paper was published as a preprint, without peer review. Levi said the paper had been rejected by two journals, and the authors decided that the implications were too important to continue to not release it to the public. Guetzkow said the researchers are going to keep trying to get the paper published by a journal.
Daily Tribune
2 days ago
- Daily Tribune
WHO delivers first medical aid to Gaza since March 2
The World Health Organization said yesterday that it had delivered its first medical shipment into Gaza since March 2, adding though that the nine truckloads were 'a drop in the ocean'. Wednesday's shipment of supplies, plasma and blood will be distributed among hospitals in the Palestinian territory in the coming days, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip on March 2. More than two months later, it began allowing some food in, but no other aid items until now. Medical supplies Tedros said nine trucks carrying essential medical supplies, 2,000 units of blood and 1,500 units of plasma were delivered via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, 'without any looting incident, despite the high-risk conditions along the route'. 'These supplies will be distributed to priority hospitals in the coming days,' Tedros said. 'The blood and plasma were delivered to Nasser Medical Complex's cold storage facility for onward distribution to hospitals facing critical shortages, amid a growing influx of injuries, many linked to incidents at food distribution sites.' Only 17 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functional.
Gulf Insider
18-06-2025
- Gulf Insider
Why Have Any COVID-19 Vaccines, 2025?
Five years on, SARS–CoV–2 is a ghost. It's not the beast it was (or was purported to be); yet (as of this last 'flu season') young medical students were still required to get the 'jab.' The current iteration of coronavirus, Omicron, LP.8.1–feels like a cold now, nothing more – moreover, its epitope is not even included in the 'bivalent' Covid vaccine handed out, 2025. Prior to 2003's SARS, coronaviruses were just that: colds, the kind you shook off with soup and sleep. No one demanded shots. No one cared. So why are we still doing this? The numbers, the past, the plain truth say it's hollow—a rule for the sake of rules. Back in 2020, the virus (or the overreaction to it) hit like a storm. Hospitals were packed. People died–350,000 in the US, mostly old, mostly sick – either 'from' or 'with' coronavirus. Kids? They were fine. The American Academy of Pediatrics counted 112 deaths under 18 by December—0.005% of cases; however, those children had problems: diabetes, obesity, and bad lungs. Healthy ones sneezed and moved on. Medical students, in their 20s, were close behind. The CDC pegged that age group's mortality rate at 0.02%–1,200 out of 6 million cases. Two percent landed in hospitals; near zero needed ICUs. There was no real danger for them, 2020 – and beyond. Now it's 2025. The virus hasn't vanished, but it's weak. Immunity—from shots, or from previously having contracted one or another of the Covid variant strains–covers essentially everyone. The current Omicron virus is no monster. It's a nuisance– moreover, it's likely conflated with background 'common cold' coronavirus. Omicron showed up in 2021, spread like crazy, but didn't hit hard. My 2022 piece 'Is it Time to Accept That Omicron is not COVID-19?' noted it was not even genomically and offspring of Covid-19—just another coronavirus, like the ones that give you a runny nose. The current version is much weaker. So what's the reason for medical students' 'booster' mandates' continuation? The shots aren't harmless. Myocarditis hits young guys–1–10 per 100,000 mRNA doses, says a 2022 JAMA study. Medical schools, in particular, should know better. They should move away from anachronistic, lockstep, doctrinaire mandates. In February 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order prohibiting federal funding for educational institutions that mandate Covid–19 vaccines for in–person attendance. Medical schools reliant on federal funds may reconsider these pointless mandates, paeans to outdated orthodoxy.
