WHO Updates Covid-19 Variant Definitions as Virus Evolves

SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has updated its tracking system and working definitions for variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, to better correspond to the current global variant landscape, to independently evaluate Omicron sublineages in circulation, and classify new variants more clearly when required.

The health body's statement comes several days after WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus expressed confidence in the progress made against the virus during 2023, saying: "I am confident that at some point this year we will be able to say that Covid-19 is over as a public health emergency of international concern - and as a pandemic."

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