The World Health Organization says COVID-19 continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

The WHO maintained its highest alert, which it issued at the end of January, 2020, in line with advice from a committee of international experts that met last Friday.

At the meeting, the experts expressed their concerns over a stubbornly high number of deaths from the coronavirus and insufficient vaccine uptake in developing nations.

The committee said omicron strains are easily spread, but "there has been a decoupling between infection and severe disease when compared to earlier variants of concern." The committee also said the virus retains "an ability to evolve into new variants with unpredictable characteristics."

It expressed the need for improved surveillance and reporting on hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and deaths.

The WHO called on all state parties to promote booster shots, watch out for emerging variants and provide the WHO with detailed surveillance data.