- Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
- Pope calls for 'arms to be silenced' across world
- 32 survivors as Azerbaijani jet crashes in Kazakhstan
- Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan, Kabul says
- Liverpool host Foxes, Arsenal prepare for life without Saka
- Zelensky condemns Russian 'inhumane' Christmas attack on energy grid
- Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force
- Pope kicks off Christmas under shadow of war
- Catholics hold muted Christmas mass in Indonesia's Sharia stronghold
- Japan's top diplomat in China to address 'challenges'
- Thousands attend Christmas charity dinner in Buenos Aires
- Demand for Japanese content booms post 'Shogun'
- As India's Bollywood shifts, stars and snappers click
- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
- Djokovic eyes more Slam glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud
- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
- 'Wemby' and 'Ant-Man' to make NBA Christmas debuts
- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
Covid-19 variant maintains threat: WHO
Covid-19 remains a threat as a virus variant has been spreading steadily around the globe, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
"This virus, SARS-CoV-2, is circulating in every country right now and it still poses a threat," WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove said.
"We have to remain vigilant because the virus is circulating, evolving and changing," she told a discussion on the WHO's social media channels.
Van Kerkhove was the WHO's technical lead during the coronavirus pandemic that struck in 2019 and is now the UN health agency's interim director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.
There are currently three variants of interest (XBB.1.5, XXB.1.16 and EG.5) and six variants under monitoring -- a lower level of concern.
One of the six, BA.2.86, is being moved up to become a variant of interest.
"We don't see a change in severity" compared to other variant sub-lineages, Van Kerkhove said, but "we've seen a slow and steady increase in its detection around the world".
The new classification should help promote surveillance and research.
The WHO is also publishing a new risk evaluation for EG.5, which represents about half of the sequences shared globally, though the WHO has also not registered a change in its severity.
Covid-19 pandemic killed millions of people and wreaked economic and social havoc.
The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern -- its highest available alarm -- on January 30, 2020, and finally lifted it on May 5 this year.
Besides acute infection and disease, the WHO is also concerned about the long-term effects caused by the virus, known collectively as Long Covid, or post-Covid conditions.
"We do have evidence that vaccination with Covid-19 vaccines does reduce the risk of post-Covid condition," Van Kerkhove said.
She said 13.5 billion Covid-19 vaccines had been administered worldwide.
Noting that people can become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and influenza at the same time, she urged people in the northern hemisphere to get vaccinated against both as winter approaches.
P.Mira--PC