The World Health Organization (WHO) is closely monitoring the spread of the EG.5 variant of the coronavirus, which has been reported in multiple countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Wednesday that the WHO is publishing a risk evaluation report on the variant. While the EG.5 variant poses a low risk to public health on a global scale, there is concern that a more dangerous variant could emerge and lead to a sudden increase in cases and deaths. According to the WHO, 51 countries have reported a total of 7,354 sequences of the EG.5 variant.

Although the variant has the potential to contribute to a surge in case incidence due to its genetic features and growth rate estimates, there is currently no evidence of an association between EG.5 and increased disease severity. The WHO emphasized the importance of countries continuing to report COVID-19 data, particularly mortality and morbidity data, and maintaining vaccination programs to prevent further spread of the virus.