Tag: Omicron

The latest reported Covid-19 deaths in the capital were the first official fatalities since the government abandoned its stringent anti-virus controls earlier this month following widespread protests against the zero-Covid policy.

This is because the new variant quickly bypasses the immunity that a person has developed through a natural infection with an earlier variant or even if the complete course of the vaccines are taken, he added.

"Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India. BA.2 and its descendent lineages, in particular, BA.2.75 has been mostly found over the last week in different parts of India," the INSACOG said

Swaminathan said they are also tracking derivatives of BA.5 and BA.1, which are also more transmissible and immune-evasive.

The Spokesperson told Xinhua that BA.4 and BA.5 continued to be the most dominant sub-variants in South Africa but they were less severe due to higher levels of immunity. The department called on the people not to panic.

The findings, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that only 44 per cent of participants with newly positive SARS-CoV-2 antibodies had awareness of being infected with the virus. The majority (56 per cent) were unaware of any recent Covid-19 infection.

According to a new study, the latest Omicron sub-variants -- including the BA.4 and BA.5 which are causing new global surges in infections -- are even better at eluding vaccines and most antibody treatments than previous variants. Sub-variants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 are rapidly expanding worldwide, with BA.4/5 now making up more than 50 per cent of new Covid cases in the US.

On COVID-19, globally reported cases have increased nearly 30 per cent over the past two weeks. Four out of six of the WHO sub-regions saw cases increase in the last week, Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing Wednesday.

Subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 are rapidly expanding worldwide, with BA.4/5 now making up more than 50 per cent of new Covid cases in the US.

According to the the ICMR study, administering of Covaxin booster dose will enhance the vaccine effectiveness against the Delta variant infection and give protection against the Omicron variants BA.1.1 and BA.2.

BA.4 made up 5.4 per cent of the new cases, while BA.5 made up 7.6 per cent, according to CDC estimates.

The genome sequencing body further said that the contact tracing of the BA.4 and BA.5 patients is being undertaken as a precautionary measure.

The outbreak forced leader Kim Jong Un to wear a mask in public likely for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but the scale of transmissions inside North Korea wasn't immediately known. A failure to slow infections could have serious consequences because the country has a poor health care system and its 26 million people are believed to be mostly unvaccinated. Some experts say the North, by its rare admission of an outbreak, may be seeking outside aid.

New Zealand is currently under the orange settings of the Covid-19 Protection Framework, where there is no limit for gatherings.

While existing vaccination can still reduce the risk of severe Covid disease, the variants can evade many of the neutralising antibodies that are the immune system's front line of defence.