The United States and the United Kingdom are among several countries experiencing an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Hospitalizations rose 18.8% in the U.S. for the week ending August 19th – marking the sixth straight week of increases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the United Kingdom, more than a million people are believed to have COVID and hospitalizations are at a three-month high.

The World Health Organization is monitoring two new variants and is urging countries to remain vigilant.

To discuss:

• Dr. Muhammad Munir is a Virologist and Lecturer in Biomedicine at Lancaster University.
• Dr. Peter Chin-Hong is a Professor of Medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco.
• Dr. Zayid Al-Aly is the Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center and Chief of Research and Education Service at Veteran Affairs Saint Louis Health Care System.
• Dr. Kate Tulenko is the Founder and CEO of Corvus Health.

For more:

COVID surveillance is coming back and the vaccine rollout has been accelerated as new variants circulate https://t.co/qUhXhpTugq

— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 4, 2023

With early signs indicating the COVID-19 caseload is poised to grow in the weeks ahead, Health Canada is actively reviewing three new vaccines specifically designed to target an Omicron subvariant of the virus.https://t.co/QxWkIlCExf

— CBC News (@CBCNews) August 29, 2023