WHO asks Southeast Asian countries to step up surveillance

The World Health Organisation (WHO) urged countries in the Southeast Asia region to step surveillance and asked people to take protective measures because of rising cases of respiratory diseases including influenza and Covid sub-variant JN.1, according to a press release.

“The COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, change, and circulate in all countries globally. While current evidence suggests the additional public health risk posed by JN.1 is low, we must continue to track the evolution of these viruses to tailor our response. For this, countries must strengthen surveillance and sequencing and ensure the sharing of data,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said in a statement.