The World Health Organisation on Wednesday said it is currently tracking several Covid-19 "variants of interest", including EG.5 that has been spreading in the populations of several countries.

EG.5 is a sublineage of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and has been detected in 51 countries, including the United States of America, China, South Korea and Japan, according to an initial risk evaluation.

"The risk remains of a more dangerous variant emerging that could cause a sudden increase in cases and deaths,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted as saying. “While the overall risk is low, based on its genetic features, immune escape characteristics, and growth rate estimates, EG.5 may spread globally and contribute to a surge in case incidence."

In the US, nearly 17 percent of the total Covid-19 cases are of the EG.5 variant, according to the latest estimates from the UN Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Health authorities in the United Kingdom revealed that one in seven Covid-19 cases in the country are now attributed to the Eris variant.

The number of new Covid-19 cases reported worldwide rose by 80 percent in the last month, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, days after designating a new "variant of interest", according to the AFP news agency.

In its weekly update, the UN agency said that nations reported nearly 1.5 million new cases from July 10 to August 6, an 80 percent increase compared to the previous 28 days. However the number of deaths fell by 57 percent to 2,500.

The global health body in May declared that Covid-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO said that since May, the number of reported cases, hospitalisations and deaths globally have continued to decline.

In Nepal too, new cases of Covid-19 have almost stopped being reported of late. On Friday, no people tested positive for the coronavirus. On Saturday, one person tested positive for the virus out of 252 tests. The number was four on Thursday. No death from Covid-19 infection has been reported since May 4.

With the decline in the infection rate, all preventive measures such as wearing of face masks, handwashing, and maintaining social distancing have been removed.

Tedros said the risk of severe disease and death is vastly lower than it was a year ago, due to the increasing immunity—whether from vaccination, infection or both—and from early diagnosis with better clinical care.

The WHO recommended countries for updating their national Covid-19 programmes to move towards longer-term sustained management of the disease and continue collaborative surveillance to detect significant changes in the virus, as well as trends in disease severity and population immunity. The WHO also has asked countries to continue to offer vaccination against the disease, especially for the most at-risk groups, and ensure equitable access to vaccines, tests and treatment.

Though much is yet to be known about the new variant of Covid-19, experts in Nepal have urged the authorities to step up their vigilance as they said that any virus variant or disease seen in any corner of the globe could enter the country due to the global movement of the public.

“New variant of the virus may enter Nepal sooner or later,” said Dr Sher Bahadur Pun, chief of the Clinical Research Unit at Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital. “Our own experience shows that it is not possible to prevent the virus from entering the country. The concerned authorities should step up their vigilance.”

As many as 12,0312 Covid-related deaths have been reported in Nepal, according to the official count. The Ministry of Health and Population has asked people to get inoculated with booster shots. They are recommended to people who have not taken them yet. Second booster shots have been suggested for persons who took their first booster shot six months ago.