Despite global Covid-19 cases surpassing more than 502mn and about 6.6mn people dying since the pandemic began in late 2019 in China’s Wuhan, the virus continues to evolve, throttling economic growth and life across all fronts. The highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is surging in many countries in Europe and Asia. The rise of BA.2 has been blamed for recent surges in China as well as record infections in Europe. It has been called the “stealth variant” because it is slightly harder to track than others.
South Korea leads the world in the daily average number of new cases, reporting more than 182,000 new infections a day and accounting for one in every four infections globally, according to a Reuters analysis.
New cases are rising in 20 out of more than 240 countries and territories tracked, including Taiwan, Thailand and Bhutan. Financial hub Shanghai is fighting China’s worst Covid-19 outbreak, with almost 25,000 new local cases reported daily and epidemic prevention and control at the most difficult and most critical stage, as confirmed recently by Wu Qianyu, an official with the municipal health commission.
Some European countries are now seeing a slower uptick in new cases, or even a decline, but the region is still reporting over 1mn cases about every two days, according to the Reuters tally. In Germany, the seven-day average of new infections has fallen and is now at 59% of its previous peak in late March. New cases are also falling in the UK and Italy, while they are holding steady in France. Overall, Covid-19 cases in the US have dropped sharply after hitting record levels in January, but the resurgence of cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the US where BA.2 was estimated to account for nearly three of every four coronavirus variants.
The BA.2 variant now makes up about 86% of all sequenced cases globally, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is known to be more transmissible than the BA.1 and BA.1.1 Omicron sub-variants. Evidence so far, though, suggests BA.2 is no more likely to cause severe disease. Scientists continue to emphasise vaccines are critical for avoiding the devastation the virus can cause. Roughly 64.8% of the world population has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, although only 14.8% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, according to figures from Our World in Data. The US has reported the highest number of deaths, followed by Russia, Brazil and India. The WHO also said recently that as Covid-19 continues to evolve, the resulting mutations cannot be overlooked, warning that the decrease in the number of cases and deaths does not necessarily mean that the risks are lower. “Our ability to monitor trends is compromised as testing has significantly reduced,” Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. He reiterated that higher testing and sequencing rates are vital for scientists to track existing variants and to identify new ones as they emerge.
“At present there are a number of Omicron sub-lineages were following closely, including BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5 and another recombinant detected, made up of BA.1 and BA.2”, he explained. The latest sub-lineages BA.4 and BA.5 have been reported in a number of countries, including South Africa and some European nations, WHO lead epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove informed. As Dr Ghebreyesus urged, the best protection is to get vaccinated and boosted when recommended. Continue wearing masks, especially in crowded indoor spaces. And for the indoors, keep the air fresh by opening windows and doors, and invest in good ventilation.
