The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that COVID-19 cases are rising globally.
In a report on Wednesday, the WHO said since mid-February 2025, global COVID activity has been increasing, with the test positivity rate reaching 11 percent as of May 11.
The organisation said the positivity level has not been observed since July 2024, adding that the rise is primarily within countries in the eastern Mediterranean, south-east Asia, and western Pacific regions.
“Since early 2025, global SARS-CoV-2 variant trends have slightly shifted. Circulation of LP.8.1 has been declining, and reporting of NB.1.8.1, a Variant Under Monitoring (VUM), is increasing, reaching 10.7% of global sequences reported as of mid-May,” the report reads.
“Recent increases in SARS-CoV-2 activity are broadly consistent with levels observed during the same period last year, however, there still lacks a clear seasonality in SARS-CoV-2 circulation, and surveillance is limited.
“Countries in the African Region, European Region, and the Region of the Americas are currently reporting low levels of SARS-CoV-2 activity with percent positivity from sentinel or systematic virological surveillance sites ranging from 2% to 3%.
“However, some areas—particularly in the Caribbean and Andean subregions in the Region of the Americas showed increasing trends of SARS-CoV-2 test positivity as of 11 May. Publicly available wastewater monitoring data from countries in the European Region and the Northern America subregion remain low and, at present, do not indicate any upward trend in SARS-CoV-2 activity as of 11 May 2025.
“The reporting of COVID-19 associated hospitalizations, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions, and deaths is very limited from the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the South-East Asia Region, and the Western Pacific Region and does not allow for evaluation of the impact on health systems by WHO.”
The WHO said continued monitoring is essential and advised all member states to continue applying a risk-based, integrated approach to managing COVID-19.
“As part of comprehensive COVID-19 control programmes, vaccination remains a key intervention for preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19, particularly among at risk groups,” the report added.
