Europe has agreed on measures to be applied in aviation in response to the specific localised worsening of the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in China, making recommendations which could potentially also be applied in other geographical regions in similar situations.
XBB.1.5 is a sub-lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage XBB, and is currently estimated to have a large growth advantage over previously circulating lineages in North America (109%) and Europe (113%).
The number of COVID-19 cases has reached a record high in mainland China, peaking on 2 December 2022. In the past three weeks, incidence has fallen, likely also due to a lower number of tests being carried out, resulting in fewer infections being detected.
Since the end of October 2022 and as of week 47, several EU/EEA countries have indicated an increase in paediatric hospitalisations due to RSV infections causing bronchiolitis, amidst concurrent circulation of other respiratory pathogens, such as the influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
A number of European countries (including Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom) indicate an increase seen during 2022, particularly since September 2022, in the number of cases of invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS) disease among children less than ten years of age.
The 2022-2023 influenza (flu) season epidemic is off to an early start in the European region as concerns over Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) rise and COVID-19 is still being a threat.