Omicron BA.2: ‘Variant of concern’ spreading rapidly globally
Europe, the US and some Asian countries are currently witnessing a record number of cases, meanwhile, the Indian government, earlier this week, directed the states to take possible actions so that another possible Covid wave can be averted in the country.
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FollowWith Covid-19 cases surging again fuelled by the Omicron BA.2, experts suggested the subvariant is much more contiguous than the previously identified BA.1. The subvariant omicron BA.2 has health officials’ attention and has been classified as a “variant of concern”, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Europe, the US and some Asian countries are currently witnessing a record number of cases, meanwhile, the Indian government, earlier this week, directed the states to take possible actions so that another possible Covid wave can be averted in the country.
Helix, a San Diego-based genomics firm, has been watching the BA.2 variant since it first popped up in the US in early January.
WHO said in a recent statement “initial data suggest that BA.2 appears inherently more transmissible than BA.1, which currently remains the most common Omicron sublineage reported.” As per the UN Health agency data, in the last 30 days of more than 400,000 sequences sampled, 99.9% are Omicron, and 75 per cent correspond to the BA.2 variant.
Dr Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in New York, and a spokesperson for the American Society of Infectious Diseases, was quoted by Fox News sayi/, "BA.2 is more contagious but not more severe than BA.1.” The epidemiologist warned that areas that did not experience predominate cases of BA.1 are more likely to see BA.2 infections in significant numbers. “Almost nobody gets a second BA 1 or 2 infection,” Glatt told Fox News. Glatt also said preventative measures could be taken to avoid being infected by this latest variant and told Fox News, “Being boosted and vaccinated are still the best ways to prevent serious illness from BA.2.”
Omicron BA.2 in part of Asia, India
Regarding its severity, WHO said, we do not see an increase in severity with BA.2. However, with huge numbers of cases you will see increase hospitalisations and we have seen this in country after country.
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