According to the World Health Organization, covid-19 cases reported worldwide surged by 80 
percent in the last month, days after a new "variant of interest" was designated.

Although Covid is no longer a global health emergency, the WHO warns that the virus may continue to circulate and mutate, causing occasional spikes in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.

According to the UN agency's weekly update, nearly 1.5 million new cases were reported between July 10 and August 6. This represents an 80 percent increase from the previous 28 days.

The number of deaths, however, fell by 57 percent to 2,500.

As a result of the lack of testing and monitoring during earlier stages of the pandemic, the reported number of cases and deaths may not be representative of the true number.

WHO reported a 137 percent increase in infections in the Western Pacific region.

Recently, several northern hemisphere countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Japan, have seen an increase in cases.

According to experts, summer gatherings and travel, declining immunity, and a new Subvariant may have all contributed to the increase.

Following a steady rise in its prevalence, the WHO designated the Omicron subvariant EG.5 as a "variant of interest" on Wednesday.

In mid-July, 17 percent of all reported cases were EG.5, up from 7.6 percent a month earlier.

The subvariant poses a low risk -

A descendant of the XBB lineage, EG.5 has been unofficially nicknamed "Eris" online.

The WHO says it has shown an ability to evade immunity and is more transmissible than other circulating variants.

This news came in through the Iraqi news portal:  The WHO, comparing EG.5 to other recent Omicron subvariants, said it poses a "low" risk to global public health.

However, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that "a more dangerous variant could emerge, causing a sudden increase in cases and deaths".

Despite low Covid numbers, France's Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau called for vigilance.

"We will have to deal with the resurgence of this virus for several seasons to come," he told AFP.

Covid's true situation is unclear "just about everywhere", according to Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.

Global Covid Cases up 80% as new subvariant rises - Iraqi News