Although the possible effects of BA.2.86 are not yet known, the World Health Organisation, WHO, and US health authorities stated on Friday that they are actively monitoring a new form of Covid-19.
The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance “due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries”, it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.
The variation has only been found thus far in Israel, Denmark, and the US.
In a tweet posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, the US Centres for Disease Control said that it is also actively watching the strain. According to the WHO, there are only four known sequences of the variation.
“The potential impact of the BA.2.86 mutations are presently unknown and undergoing careful assessment,” the WHO said.
The WHO is now keeping track of more than 10 variations and their ancestry lines.
The WHO has criticised this decision and called for better monitoring. The majority of countries that had created surveillance systems for the virus have already dismantled operations after finding it is no longer as severe and could not justify the expense.
More than 1.4 million new cases of COVID-19 were discovered and more than 2,300 fatalities were reported during the most recent reporting period, which ran from July 17 to August 13.
The number of cases is up 63% from the previous 28 days, while the number of deaths was down 56%.
As of August 13, there were more than 769 million cases of COVID-19 confirmed and more than 6.9 million deaths worldwide, although the real toll is expected to be much higher because many cases went undetected.