WHO calls for sharing COVID-19 sequences

shahenews

Although virus sequencing is vital to detect and track new variants in the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing this information must be stepped up globally, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Speaking during his latest media briefing, Ghebreyesus urged all countries now experiencing intense transmission to increase sequencing, and to share those sequences.

“Since the peak of the Omicron wave, the number of sequences being shared has dropped by more than 90 percent, and the number of countries sharing sequences has fallen by a third,” he indicated.

//Petra// WH