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COVID-19 India News

Delta variant completely replaced by Omicron in TN

Fresh Covid cases are on a decline in Tamil Nadu with the state reporting only 33 new cases. Of the 38 districts in the state, 26 reported no new Covid cases on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public health in a statement said that the Delta variant of Covid-19 is now totally replaced by the Omicron variant in the state.

The report of the state public health department said that 68.4 per cent of all whole-genome sequenced samples were of the BA.2 variant while 15.2 per cent were of the BA.1.1 variant.

The other variants are BA.1 (10.3 per cent ), B.1.1.529 (6 per cent), and BA.3 (0.05 per cent). The whole-genome sequenced samples did not have any Delta variant, the statement said.

Interestingly in January 2022, while the Omicron variant represented 92 per cent of the samples, 4 per cent were of Delta and the rest were of other variants.

The state public health department also said that Tamil Nadu will continue with its surveillance and added that in Europe and the US, the BA.2 variant led to the surge in Covid cases and, hence, called upon the people not to lower their guards.

Fresh Covid cases are on a decline in Tamil Nadu with the state reporting only 33 new cases. Of the 38 districts in the state, 26 reported no new Covid cases on Monday.

Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian while speaking to IANS said, “Even as there is no need to panic on the high incidences of BA.2 variant of Covid-19 in samples tested, we have directed all the district collectors to be on guard and to strictly monitor the situation in their respective districts in association with the district health officials and the district police authorities.”

On Monday, according to the public health department, the state tested 28,916 samples and only 33 cases were reported positive for Covid. The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was 0.1 per cent.

The Tamil Nadu health secretary, J. Radhakrishnan while speaking to IANS said, “Chennai, Vellore, and Chengalpattu have been showing variations even as there is a slump in the overall cases. Chennai district had recorded 19 positive cases on Sunday while it was only 12 on Saturday but the figures have again come down to 16 on Monday.”

He said that all the district collectors have been given an alert to review minor increases and the fluctuating number of fresh cases in certain districts, including Chennai.

ALSO READ-Britain reports Delta x Omicron combine variant

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-Top News COVID-19 World News

WHO chief worried about ‘tsunami’ of omicron, delta cases

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant…reports Asian Lite News.

The head of the World Health Organization says he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of COVID-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday that he’s worried about the omicron and delta variants of Covid-19 producing a “tsunami” of cases between them, but he’s still hopeful that the world will put the worst of the pandemic behind it in 2022.

Two years after the coronavirus first emerged, top officials with the U.N. health agency cautioned that it’s still too early to be reassured by initial data suggesting that omicron, the latest variant, leads to milder disease. First reported last month in southern Africa, it is already the dominant variant in the United States and parts of Europe.

And after 92 of the WHO’s 194 member countries missed a target to vaccinate 40% of their populations by the end of this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged everyone to make a “new year’s resolution” to get behind a campaign to vaccinate 70% of countries’ populations by the beginning of July.

According to WHO’s figures, the number of COVID-19 cases recorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previous week, with nearly 4.99 million newly reported from Dec. 20-26. New cases in Europe, which accounted for more than half of the total, were up 3% while those in the Americas rose 39% and there was a 7% increase in Africa. The global gain followed a gradual increase since October.

“I’m highly concerned that omicron, being more transmissible (and) circulating at the same time as delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases,” Tedros said at an online news conference. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”

WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that the “overall risk” related to omicron “remains very high.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant.

It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early data from that country, the U.K. and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization with omicron, but said that more data is needed.

WHO’s emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, underlined that note of caution. He said it will be important in coming weeks to “suppress transmission of both variants to the minimum that we can.”

Ryan said that omicron infections began largely among young people, “but what we haven’t seen is the omicron wave fully established in the broader population. And I’m a little nervous to make positive predictions until we see how well the vaccine protection is going to work in those older and more vulnerable populations.”

WHO officials didn’t offer specific comments on decisions by the U.S. and other countries to reduce self-isolation periods. Ryan said “these are judgement calls that countries make”, taking into account scientific, economic and other factors. He noted that the average incubation period to date has been around five to six days.

“We need to be careful about changing tactics and strategies immediately on the basis of what we’re seeing” about omicron, Ryan said.

Tedros renewed longstanding warnings that “ending health inequity remains the key to ending the pandemic.” He said that missing the target of getting 40% of populations vaccinated this year “is not only a moral shame, it cost lives and provided the virus with opportunities to circulate unchecked and mutate.”

Countries largely missed the target because of limited supply to low-income nations for most of the year and then vaccines arriving close to their expiry date, without things such as syringes, he said.

All the same, “I still remain optimistic that this can be the year we can not only end the acute stage of the pandemic, but we also chart a path to stronger health security,” Tedros said.

ALSO READ-SPECIAL 2022: UN Chief Urges World To Join Covid Fight

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STUDY: Omicron less dangerous than Delta?

Fused cells are often seen in respiratory tissues taken following severe disease…reports Asian Lite News.

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 may be significantly better than previous variants at evading vaccine-induced antibodies, but preliminary evidence also suggests that it is less likely to cause severe illness in the lungs compared to Delta.

In a yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, a team of researchers led by Indian-origin Professor Ravi Gupta from the University of Cambridge, created synthetic viruses – known as ‘pseudoviruses’ — that carried key mutations found in the Delta and Omicron strains — to study the virus’s behaviour.

The pseudoviruses were used to infect cells in lung organoids – ‘mini-lungs’ that model parts of the lung.

Despite having three mutations that were predicted to favour the spike cleavage, the researchers found the Omicron spike protein to be less efficient than the Delta spike at cleaving the ACE2 receptor and entering the lung cells.

In addition, once Omicron had entered the cells, it was also less able than Delta to cause fusion between cells – a phenomenon associated with impaired cell-to-cell spread. Fused cells are often seen in respiratory tissues taken following severe disease.

Indeed, when the team used a live Omicron virus and compared it to Delta in a spreading infection experiment using lung cells, Omicron was significantly poorer in replication, confirming the findings regarding impaired entry.

“We speculate that the more efficient the virus is at infecting our cells, the more severe the disease might be. The fact that Omicron is not so good at entering lung cells and that it causes fewer fused cells with lower infection levels in the lab suggests this new variant may cause less severe lung-associated disease,” said Gupta from the varsity’s Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease.

The team also tested the pseudoviruses against blood samples from vaccinated individuals who had received two doses of either the AstraZeneca (ChAdOx-1) or Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccines.

On average, Omicron required around a 10-fold increase in the concentration of serum antibodies in order to neutralise the virus, compared to Delta. Of particular concern, antibodies from the majority of individuals who had received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were unable to neutralise the virus. The data were confirmed in live virus experiments.

Omicron becomes dominant strain of Covid-19 in Ireland

“The Omicron variant appears to be much better than Delta at evading neutralising antibodies in individuals who have received just two doses of the vaccine. A third dose ‘booster’ with the Pfizer vaccine was able to overturn this in the short term, though we’d still expect a waning in immunity to occur over time,” Gupta said.

He added that further work is needed to corroborate the findings. However, Gupta also urged caution.

“Omicron still represents a major public health challenge. Individuals who have only received two doses of the vaccine – or worse, none at all – are still at significant risk of Covid-19, and some will develop severe disease. The sheer number of new cases we are seeing every day reinforces the need for everyone to get their boosters as quickly as possible.”

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-Top News UK News

EMA says two jabs vital for protection against Delta variant

While urging the European citizens to take into account the spread of the Delta variant, the EMA stated vaccination remains one of the best protective measures against COVID-19…reports Asian Lite News

Amid the rapid global spread of the coronavirus Delta variant, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has urged EU citizens to get vaccinated and to adhere to the recommended number of doses.

“Currently, EMA and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) are not in a position to make any definitive recommendations on use of different COVID-19 vaccines for the two doses. Nonetheless, preliminary results from studies in Spain, Germany, and the UK suggest a satisfactory immune response and no safety concerns,” the EMA said in a statement.

While urging the European citizens to take into account the spread of the Delta variant, the EMA stated vaccination remains one of the best protective measures against COVID-19.

The EU agency further stated that the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) is a variant of concern that is spreading fast in Europe and may seriously hamper efforts to control the pandemic.

“Evidence suggests it is 40 per cent to 60 per cent more transmissible than the earlier Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant which was the first major variant of concern in the EU. In addition, the Delta variant may be associated with higher risk of hospitalisation,” the statement stated.

European CDC estimates that by the end of August the Delta variant will represent 90 per cent of all SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the EU, it added. The EMA has therefore suggested using different vaccines for the second dose from the ones used for the first dose.

“Another such adaptation is that experts responsible for the vaccination programmes in over half of Member States have decided, with a view to their national situations, to use different vaccines for the second dose from the ones used for the first dose,” the EMA said.

“A heterologous vaccination strategy (sometimes referred to as ‘mix and match’), in which a different vaccine is given for the second dose in a recommended 2-dose schedule, has historically been applied for some other vaccines. There are good scientific grounds to expect this strategy to be safe and effective when applied to vaccination against COVID-19,” it added.

The agency further said that the use of a heterologous vaccination strategy may allow populations to be protected more quickly and make better use of available vaccine supplies. (ANI)

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-Top News COVID-19 PAKISTAN

Air travel banned for unvaccinated people in Pakistan

The latest measures come after an increase in coronavirus cases was witnessed throughout the country, as well as the impending threat of an outbreak of the Delta variant…..reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan has imposed a ban on air travel for people who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19, a move deemed to curb the further spread of the virus, it was reported on Saturday.

In its announcement on Friday, the National Command and Opera­tion Centre (NCOC) said the ban will come into effect from August 1, reports Dawn news.

The latest measures come after an increase in coronavirus cases was witnessed throughout the country, as well as the impending threat of an outbreak of the Delta variant.

Besides the travel ban, the NCOC also made it mandatory for all adult students to get themselves vaccinated by August 31.

A day after Prime Minister Imran Khan warned about the spread of the Delta variant, Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, on Friday admitted that the fourth wave had set in and issued new guidelines to check its spread.

The NCOC added that various other proposals were under consideration to limit unnecessary movement during Eidul Azha, which will be decided in the next few days, including a restriction on tourism.

Slow vaccination

Slow vaccination and flawed screening at airports have exposed people in Pakistan’s Punjab to the possible danger of a fourth wave of COVID-19.

According to Dawn, Punjab Health Services Director General Haroon Jahangir directed the district health authorities to focus on the business sector to ward off the fourth wave of the coronavirus.

Jahangir also expressed concern that a number of districts were far behind their daily vaccination targets of the first dose.

“Your daily target is already set in consensus with the divisional commissioners concerned,” Haroon said and warned that in absence of vaccination, Punjab (with approximately 50 pc population of Pakistan) was at the risk of a rapidly approaching possibility of fourth wave of the virus.

Pakistan’s medical facilities crumbling under rising COVID-19 cases(ANI)

However, citing official data, Dawn reported that Punjab is far behind the target assigned by the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) to vaccinate 12 million people of 18 years of age or above by June 30.

So far, the Punjab government has inoculated 8.6 million eligible people of the province against the Covid-19.

The number of coronavirus patients in Punjab is the highest, with 347,793 cases reported so far. Punjab also has the highest number of total deaths, which has reached 10,815.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is continuing to report an increase in coronavirus cases, with the active number of cases crossing 36,000 on Saturday. Currently, the country’s number of active cases is 36,454.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,828 more cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, with another 35 people losing their lives to the deadly epidemic. The total number of deaths from coronavirus across the country has reached 22,555 while the total number of patients has reached 971,304. (IANS/ANI)

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

Delta strain now dominant in US

Delta, which was first found in India and is now in over 100 countries, represented 51.7 per cent of new infections in the US…reports Asian Lite News

 The highly transmissible Delta strain has overtaken the Alpha variant to become the dominant variant in the US, according to new estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Delta, which was first found in India and is now in over 100 countries, represented 51.7 per cent of new infections in the US over the two weeks ending July 3, Xinhua news agency reported citing the CDC.

Meanwhile, the proportion of new cases caused by Alpha, which was first detected in Britain, was just 28.7 per cent over the same time period, according to the CDC.

Recently, health officials and experts have warned that the Delta variant was on track to become the dominant variant in the US, as its prevalence in the nation doubles about every two weeks.

us

ALSO READ: ‘Delta variant to unsettle US soon’

They are concerned the variant will cause a surge in new cases this fall, hitting the unvaccinated population the hardest.

Increasing cases were reported in states with lower vaccination rates, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the CDC.

Although Delta is highly contagious, research show that most vaccines still remain highly effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths caused by the variant.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday pushed for all eligible Americans to get Covid-19 vaccinations, stressing the importance of being protected against Delta.

The country reached its highest vaccination rate in mid-April when the seven-day average of doses administered daily topped about 3.4 million. But the rate has dropped since then.

About 47.6 per cent of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and 55.1 per cent of the population has received at least one shot as of Wednesday, CDC data show.

Biden set a goal in May of having 70 per cent of American adults receive at least one Covid-19 shot by the Fourth of July. But just 18 states and Washington, DC surpassed that goal by the date, according to a Forbes report.

ALSO READ:  Covaxin effective against both Alpha, Delta variants: US NIH

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

‘Delta variant to unsettle US soon’

Concerns are rising about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in the US as President Joe Biden falls short of his July 4 vaccine rollout goal…reports Asian Lite News

The US is set to witness an explosive outbreak of the Delta Covid variant in a month’s time, if people are not fully vaccinated, warned Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and a public health scientist.

“The US has just one month to act before it becomes full blown Delta variant dominant. One month to slow it down. One month to fully vaccinate,” Feigl-Ding said in a series of tweets.

He urged the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to take urgent steps to vaccinate people in the US.

“But we likely have even less time than that if CDC doesn’t act soon,” Feigl-Ding said.

“If the CDC doesn’t issue new guidelines to stem the growth of #DeltaVariant, which can transmit via merely 5-10 seconds of passive breathing exposure, it will be extremely derelict,” he said.

– A man wearing a face mask walks past a shop in London, Britain, on Oct. 13, 2020. The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 143 to 43,018, marking the highest daily figure since June, according to official figures released Tuesday. Another 17,234 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 634,920, the latest data showed. (Xinhua/Han Yan/IANS)

“The Delta variant is leaps and bounds faster than any other variant known to date. It represents a clear and present danger to the world. This Delta variant surge will not end well for low vaccination areas,” he noted.

Feigl-Ding emphasised on the need for two doses of vaccines and said “1 dose is definitely not enough”.

Concerns are rising about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 in the US as President Joe Biden falls short of his July 4 vaccine rollout goal and cases explode in the UK. The highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India, has spread to at least 92 countries.

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According to the CDC, the variant now represents at least 20 per cent of Covid cases in the US, and is expected to become dominant in a matter of weeks.

Besides vaccinations, it is imperative to wear masks.

Feigl-Ding has urged the CDC for reversing its mask rule as nations like Australia and Israel are reimposing masks due to the threat of the Delta variant.

children walking in street during covid 19 surge in us

He cited a Queensland health official, who early last week had warned that “5-10 seconds” is all one needs to transmit the Delta variant. It can be a “fleeting moment” of seconds.

Meanwhile, the WHO has also said that being vaccinated may not be enough, and people must continue wearing masks, maintain social distancing and other Covid-appropriate behaviours.

“Israel and now the WHO are both coming out strongly for masks even if fully vaccinated. Israel has 60 per cent people who have received both doses of Pfizer vaccine, yet it knows it needs to reinstate masks because of the new Delta Variant outbreak. The WHO is on the right side of the science this time, better than CDC,” Feigl-Ding said.

“Don’t act slowly against the Delta Variant. Speed matters. You must move quickly or else once Delta hits a critical mass, you will be in trouble and lose control,” he said.

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COVID-19 Europe

Merkel defends patent protection for vaccines

Angela_Merkel_

At their summit, the EU’s heads of state and government will discuss, among other things, the progress of the Covid vaccination campaign and the global distribution of vaccines…reports Asian Lite News.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines in a government statement in the Bundestag or the lower house of Parliament.

“A politically enforced release of patents is, in my opinion, the wrong way to go,” Merkel said on Thursday.

She said she was convinced that “we need to increase the production of vaccines on the basis of licenses as quickly as possible”.

The world will “continue to depend on vaccines being developed in the future”, Merkel said in the German government’s statement on the June 24-25 European Council meeting in Brussels.

“This will only succeed if the protection of intellectual property is not overridden but is preserved.”

At their summit, the EU’s heads of state and government will discuss, among other things, the progress of the Covid vaccination campaign and the global distribution of vaccines.

Merkel emphasised that the decision to jointly procure vaccines in Europe was right.

“Anything else might have given some member states short-term advantages but would have severely disrupted life in the internal market.”

Till date, more than 27.8 million people in Germany had been fully vaccinated, bringing the country’s vaccination rate to 33.5 per cent, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

More than 43.4 million people received at least one vaccine dose.

“The pandemic can only be defeated globally and the key to this is vaccination,” Merkel stressed.

It is therefore important that the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US) aim to distribute 2.3 billion vaccine doses to the developing countries by 2022.

Caution against Delta variant

Although the current infection situation in Germany was “encouraging,” Merkel called for further caution over the Covid-19 crisis during her last government question session in the Bundestag.

“Even if the third wave has been impressively broken, the pandemic is not over yet,” said Merkel. “We are still on thin ice.” Keeping distance, hygiene and the use of protective masks in certain situations were still “important protective measures and will remain important,” she added, Xinhua reported.

Germany’s incidence rate of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days continued to fall to 7.2 on Wednesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). A week ago, the country’s seven-day incidence rate stood at 13.

Merkel highlighted the threat posed by the spreading of coronavirus mutations. “We must not now lightly risk what we have achieved together,” said Merkel.

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-Top News COVID-19 UK News

Two million Britons may have suffered long Covid

The findings were based on data from 508,707 adults who took part in the study between September 2020 and February this year…reports Asian Lite News.

More than 2 million people in England may have had long Covid-19 lasting for at least 12 weeks, a new research has revealed.

The Imperial College London’s REACT-2 (REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission) study issued on Thursday showed that more than one third of people who had Covid-19 reported prolonged symptoms, such as tiredness and muscle aches or shortness of breath, tightness in the chest and chest pain.

The findings were based on data from 508,707 adults who took part in the study between September 2020 and February this year.

It was noted, however, that the study was based on people reporting their own symptoms and it might over-estimate the prevalence of long Covid because many of the symptoms are common and not unique to coronavirus.

Professor Paul Elliott, director of the REACT program, said in a statement: “Our findings do paint a concerning picture of the longer-term health consequences of Covid-19, which need to be accounted for in policy and planning.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the Francis Crick Institute Vaccination Centre in London,UK , Britain, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan/IANS)

“Long Covid-19 is still poorly understood but we hope through our research that we can contribute to better identification and management of this condition, which our data and others’ suggest may ultimately affect millions of people in the UK alone.”

Meanwhile, UK has reported 35,204 new coronavirus cases of the Delta variant first identified in India in the latest week, marking a 46 percent increase, Public Health England (PHE) said Friday.

The total number of confirmed cases of the variant now stands at 111,157, according to the PHE.

The Delta variant now comprises 95 percent of all sequenced cases, the PHE added. Last week, it made up 99 percent of new COVID-19 cases across Britain.

Meanwhile, the PHE said the current vaccines continue to have a “crucial effect on hospital admission and death”, adding there is currently no evidence that this new variant causes more severe disease or renders vaccines less effective.

A total of 117 people has died in England having the Delta variant, eight of which were people under the age of 50, according to the PHE.

Six of these eight people were unvaccinated, while two died after more than 21 days of receiving a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Vaccine (ANI)

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said though the data suggested “we have begun to break the link between cases and hospitalisations”, she warned against complacency.

She urged Britons to get vaccinated and book their second jabs as soon as possible.

“Whilst vaccines provide excellent protection, they do not provide total protection, so it is still as important as ever that we continue to exercise caution,” she said. “Protect yourself and the people around you by working from home where possible, and by practising ‘hands, face, space, fresh air’ at all times.” (ANI/Xinhua)

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READ MORE-Europe warned of Delta variant spread across continent

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Europe warned of Delta variant spread across continent

The ECDC said the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns must be accelerated and the second doses should also be administered as early as possible…reports Asian Lite News.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that the Covid-19 Delta variant is expected to account for nearly all new cases in the continent by August.

In its latest threat assessment report, the ECDC said on Wednesday that since the Delta variant is 40-60 per cent more transmissible, it is projected to cause 70 per cent of the new infections in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) by early August.

By late August, this figure could reach 90 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Centre as saying.

The ECDC also warned that the daily number of new cases, hospitalisations and deaths, could increase to the late 2020 levels if non-pharmaceutical measures, such as physical distancing, hand and respiratory hygiene, use of face masks, are relaxed.

The ECDC said the Covid-19 vaccination campaigns must be accelerated and the second doses should also be administered as early as possible.

“Unfortunately, preliminary data shows that (the Delta strain) can also infect individuals who have received only one dose of the currently available vaccines,” ECDC Director Andrea Ammon said.

“It is very likely that the Delta variant will circulate extensively during the summer, particularly among younger individuals who are not targeted for vaccination. This could cause a risk for the more vulnerable individuals to be infected.

“They could experience severe illness and death if they are not fully vaccinated,” she said.

Nevertheless, Ammon stressed that there is still hope.

“The good news is that having received two doses of any of the currently available vaccines provides high protection against this variant and its consequences.

“However, about 30 per cent of individuals older than 80 years and about 40 per cent of individuals older than 60 years have not yet received a full vaccination course in the European Union,” she added.

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