The UN health agency is also concerned that more severe variants of the  coronavirus  may soon be on the horizon.

&ldquo COVID-19 is still very much with us,&rdquo and circulating in all countries,  Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of  WHO  told journalists in  Geneva.

Testing positive

&ldquo Data from our sentinel-based surveillance system across 84 countries reports that the percent of positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been  rising over several weeks,&rdquo she said. &ldquo Overall, test positivity is above 10 per cent, but this fluctuates per region.  In Europe, percent positivity is above 20 per cent,&rdquo she  added.

New waves of infection have been registered in the Americas, Europe and the western Pacific.

Wastewater surveillance suggests the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 is from two to 20 times higher than current figures suggest.

Such high infection circulation rates in the northern hemisphere&rsquo s summer months are  atypical for respiratory viruses, which tend to spread mostly in cold temperatures.  

&ldquo In recent months, regardless of the season, many countries have experienced surges of COVID-19,  including at the Olympics" ,  Dr. Van Kerkhove said. WHO reported that at least 40 athletes had tested positive for COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses. 

As the virus continues to evolve and spread, there is a growing risk of a more severe strain of the virus that could potentially evade detection systems and be unresponsive to medical intervention.

Boost vaccine awareness

While hospital admissions - including for intensive care - are still much lower than they were during the peak of the pandemic, WHO is urging governments to strengthen vaccination campaigns, making sure that the highest risk groups get shots at least once every 12 months.

&ldquo As individuals it is important to take measures to reduce risk of infection and severe disease,  including ensuring that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination dose in the last 12 months, especially, if you are in an at-risk group,&rdquo stressed Dr.  Van Kerkhove.

Vaccines availability has declined substantially over the last 12 to 18 months, WHO admits, because the number of producers of COVID-19 vaccines has recently decreased.

&ldquo It is very difficult for them to maintain the pace,&rdquo Dr. Van Kerkhove explained. &ldquo And certainly, they don' t need to maintain the pace that they had in 2021 and 2022. But let' s be very clear, there is a market for COVID-19 vaccines that are [already] out there.&rdquo

Nosing ahead

Nasal vaccines are still under development but could potentially address transmission, thereby reducing the risk of further variants, infection and severe disease.

&ldquo I am concerned&rdquo , the top WHO COVID specialist said.

&ldquo With such low coverage and with such large circulation,  if we were to have a variant that would be more severe, then the susceptibility of the at-risk populations to develop severe disease is huge,&rdquo Dr. Van Kerkhove warned.