Stock Groups

More than two-thirds of omicron cases are reinfections, study suggests

[ad_1]

The public queuing up for Covid-19 shots and booster jabs at the St Thomas’ Hospital in London on December 14, 20,21.

Getty Images News | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A new study found that Omicron almost entirely replaced Covid-19, the dominant Delta variant in England. The vast majority of the cases were reinfections.

Imperial College London’s REACT study — which has been updated monthly since May 2020 and is funded by the U.K. government — analyzed 100,607 PCR test results from across England. Between Jan. 5 & Jan. 20, Swabs were taken.

Study results showed that 91% of sequential positive swabs were from individuals infected by the omicron variation, while only 1% are caused by the Delta variant.

In a Wednesday paper, the authors of the study stated that they had observed “unprecedented levels of SARS-CoV-2 infection in England in January 2022” and nearly complete replacement of delta with omicron.

Reinfection capability

One-third of all the participants tested positive for Covid reported having tested positive previously. Another 7.5% reported that they believed they were infected, although they hadn’t been tested.

It was suspected that Covid virus variants previously circulated among the population. This could have been due to a previous Covid infection in which individuals had contracted it and then recovered. could offer some protection from reinfection.However, there are concerns that the U.K.’s health officials may not be able to confirm this. estimating in DecemberThe risk of reinfection is 5.4 times higher with Omicron than with the Delta variant.

Researchers discovered Wednesday that Omicron’s infectiousness has now resulted in the highest Covid prevalence recorded in REACT.

“Vaccination, including the booster campaign, remains the most important component of defense against the disease. [Covid-19]The research team stated that the hospitalization rates were high because of the protection they offer.

“But, it’s possible that additional vaccinations may be necessary if there are still high levels of omicron-related infections, despite the fact that omicron appears to be less likely to cause severe diseases.”

Omicron, a highly infectious, mutated variant of Covid, has been recognized by authorities in at most 171 countries. This has resulted in record-breaking numbers of Covid cases across many countries.

On Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the organization’s executive board that since the variant was identified nine weeks ago, more than 80 million Covid cases had been reported to the WHO — more than were reported in the whole of 2020. Last week, an average of 100 cases were reported every three seconds, Tedros said, and someone lost their life to the virus every 12 seconds.

REACT’s most recent study showed that coronavirus infection rates declined in England during January but then rose to a very high level, with only one-third of the population being infected.

In the latest round of the study, 4.4% showed positive results. This is three times more than December.

Provisionally, Tuesday saw the U.K. record 94.326 Covid deaths and 439 new Covid cases within 28 days after a positive test result. Covid cases reached their peak in late December with 246,415 positive results.

England will scrap all remaining Covid measures. On Thursday, mask wearing won’t be required and people will be advised not to work at home. Almost 85% of the country’s eligible population — those over the age of 12 — is fully vaccinated against Covid, while 64% have received a booster shot.

BA.2 “variant under investigation”

[ad_2]