WHO warns coronavirus 'running freely' as BA.4, BA.5 subvariants drive infections

“The virus is running freely,” the World Health Organization warns as the latest omicron offshoots drive up coronavirus infections around the world. Many countries have lifted restrictions and reduced coronavirus tracking as they grapple with pandemic fatigue. But “new waves of the virus demonstrate again that covid-19 is nowhere near over,” according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He appealed to governments Tuesday to pour efforts back into testing and improving vaccine deployment and said rising cases were straining medical systems already stretched by the pandemic.