Globally reported COVID-19 cases increased 80% over the past month compared to the previous month, according to the World Health Organization.
Nearly 1.5 million infections were reported from July 10 to Aug. 6, the U.N. health agency said in its weekly coronavirus report published Thursday. South Korea is mostly driving the increase in reported cases, reporting more than 1.2 million infections over the past month.
But the true number of global infections is certainly much higher, considering the drastic decline in coronavirus testing.
“Currently, reported cases do not accurately represent infection rates due to the reduction in testing and reporting globally,” WHO stated. “During this 28-day period, 44% (103 of 234) of countries reported at least one case to WHO – a proportion that has been declining since mid-2022.”
Given the widespread decline in testing, it’s unclear what the localized coronavirus spike in South Korea means for the global COVID-19 situation going forward. South Korea, along with other countries, is dealing with a rapidly spreading EG.5 coronavirus variant that WHO recently said could “cause a rise in case incidence.”
According to WHO, the prevalence of EG.5 globally more than doubled from June to July, increasing from nearly 8% of global cases to more than 17%.
While South Korea and other countries are also seeing an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, WHO says it is not because EG.5 is more severe than other strains.
“While concurrent increases in the proportion of EG.5 and COVID-19 hospitalizations (lower than previous waves) have been observed in countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, no associations have been made between these hospitalizations and EG.5,” it stated in a risk assessment published this week.
The U.S. is also seeing a small increase in hospitalizations as EG.5 spreads.
Cartoons on the Coronavirus
