New Covid-19 variants causing global surges, but severity of infection down

In Southeast Asia, Thailand recorded highest number of fresh infections, followed by India where cases increased 2%

New variants of the Covid-19 virus have emerged worldwide, though the severity of the infection has decreased.

According to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), more than 1.4 million new cases of Covid-19 have been reported globally in the past 28 days (from July 17 to August 13).

This reflects a 63 per cent increase from the previous month. The number of deaths, meanwhile, has decreased by 56 per cent, indicating that the variants are not causing severe infections.

Earlier this month, health authorities in the United Kingdom raised concerns about a new Covid-19 variant known as EG.5.1, nicknamed ‘Eris’.