--- title: WHO Chief Warns of Rising Infections From New COVID-19 Wave description: The WHO is worried that even as cases rise again, surveillance of the virus and new potential variants is on the decline. canonical: https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-13T14:16:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:29:41.190Z article:section: Health og:title: WHO Warns of Rising Infections and Deaths From New COVID-19 Wave og:description: The World Health Organization is worried that even as cases rise again, surveillance of the virus and new potential variants is on the decline. og:url: https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfde98e38dd679121/698a33a616d884832fc3ad2f/who-chief-warns-rising-infections-covid-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: WHO Chief Warns of Rising Infections, Deaths From New Covid Wave og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WHO Warns of Rising Infections and Deaths From New COVID-19 Wave twitter:description: The World Health Organization is worried that even as cases rise again, surveillance of the virus and new potential variants is on the decline. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfde98e38dd679121/698a33a616d884832fc3ad2f/who-chief-warns-rising-infections-covid-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # WHO Warns of Rising Infections and Deaths From New COVID-19 Wave by [Andy Hoffman / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Andy Hoffman / Bloomberg Jul 13, 2022 2:16 PM UTC  World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a ceremony to launch a multiyear partnership with Qatar on making FIFA Football World Cup 2022 and mega sporting events healthy and safe at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on October 18, 2021. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a ceremony to launch a multiyear partnership with Qatar on making FIFA Football World Cup 2022 and mega sporting events healthy and safe at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on October 18, 2021.Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images by [Andy Hoffman / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Andy Hoffman / Bloomberg Jul 13, 2022 2:16 PM UTC The World Health Organization urged governments and health care systems to take steps to curb COVID-19 transmission as a fresh wave of infections moves across Europe and the US. Sub-variants of the [Omicron strain](https://time.com/6195495/covid-omicron-variant-mutant-contagious-ba2-75/) are lifting case numbers and leading to further fatalities, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday. Tedros, as the head of the WHO is known, recommended the revival of protocols like mask-wearing to stop the spread. “New waves of the virus demonstrate that COVID-19 is nowhere near over,” Tedros said, adding that he is “concerned about a rising trend of deaths.” **Read More:** [_Tweaked COVID-19 Boosters In U.S. Must Target Newer Omicron Types_](https://time.com/6193249/tweaked-covid-19-boosters-in-u-s-must-target-newer-omicron-types/) Europe is at the center of a new wave of cases driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants as people attend large gatherings and resume traveling after two years of staying close to home. In England, [an estimated 2.1 million people](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveypilot/8july2022), or one in 25, tested positive in the final week of June, according to the Office for National Statistics. People can be infected even if they have had COVID previously, but [vaccination](https://time.com/6172678/childhood-vaccinations-fall-covid-19/) does help to protect against serious illness. The WHO is worried that even as cases rise again, surveillance of the virus and new potential variants is on the decline. Tedros said that a WHO committee reiterated that [COVID-19](https://time.com/6194539/wastewater-covid-19-variants/) remains a public health emergency of international concern — the way the global health organization classifies a pandemic. **Read More:** [_Americans Still Disagree on Practically Everything About COVID-19_](https://time.com/6194568/americans-divided-covid-19-vaccines-masks-survey/) Noting that many governments are concerned about the BA.5 sub-lineage, particularly anecdotal evidence of the potential for re-infection, the WHO said there is no evidence so far that BA.5 is any more severe than previous Omicron variants or that vaccines and approved treatments are not effective. Still, “the virus is spreading at a very intense level at a global level,” even as surveillance, including testing and sequencing to detect and identify strains, is declining, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Technical Lead Officer for COVID-19. Earlier Tuesday, the WHO’s regional director for Europe recommended that all vulnerable adults and their close contacts[ receive a second](https://time.com/6196326/covid-19-booster-get-now-or-fall-omicron/) vaccine booster dose. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/"},"headline":"WHO Warns of Rising Infections and Deaths From New COVID-19 Wave","datePublished":"2022-07-13T14:16:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:29:41.190Z","description":"The WHO is worried that even as cases rise again, surveillance of the virus and new potential variants is on the decline.","url":"https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/","keywords":["COVID-19","wire","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfde98e38dd679121/698a33a616d884832fc3ad2f/who-chief-warns-rising-infections-covid-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andy Hoffman / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfde98e38dd679121/698a33a616d884832fc3ad2f/who-chief-warns-rising-infections-covid-wave.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WHO Chief Warns of Rising Infections, Deaths From New Covid Wave","caption":"who-chief-warns-rising-infections-covid-wave","creditText":"Fabrice Coffrini—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/covid-19/","name":"COVID-19"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6196655/who-rising-infections-covid-19-wave/","name":"WHO Warns of Rising Infections and Deaths From New COVID-19 Wave"}}]}] ```