Israel announce two cases of unknown coronavirus variant
Israel’s Health Ministry has announced two cases of a previously unknown coronavirus variant that are thought to be a combination of the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants…reports Asian Lite News
According to the Ministry, the cases were discovered during routine PCR testing performed at the Ben-Gurion International Airport for all passengers entering the country, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Those infected with it are reported to be experiencing mild symptoms including fever, headaches and muscle pain, and did not require additional medical attention.
The Ministry has said that it is continuing to monitor the situation in the airport and will provide additional information as it becomes available.
Israel announce two cases of unknown coronavirus variant
“Analysis of the data revealed a unique genetic signature that combines mutations originating in the BA.1 strain and… the BA.2 strain,” a spokesperson from Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh), where the PCR tests were sequenced, said in a statement.
“It is important to note that the variant’s detection is only possible through deep sequencing. The data was immediately transmitted to the Health Ministry and Central Virus Laboratory for verification.”
As this variant has not yet been discovered anywhere else in the world so there is not much known about it. But senior Hadassah Medical Center physician Prof. Dror Mevorach said: “Every two to three weeks there is a new variant.”
“As long as it does not make up a significant part of new infections, it will not be defined as a variant of concern and has little significance,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Israel on Wednesday recorded 6,332 new coronavirus cases.
The country also announced it will not lift more Covid restrictions amid rising infections “in several locations around the world”, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
However, the requirement to use masks in closed public spaces will continue to be mandated and will be reviewed again in April.
Meanwhile, researchers from Australia have also reported seven sequences of Delta x Omicron among the genomic sequences uploaded from the country…reports Asian Lite News
Britain has reported small clusters of recombinant Delta and Omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Recombinant variants refer to new variants of the virus that are created by genetic mutations from two different variants.
On 11 February, the UK Health Security Agency added “Delta x Omicron Recombinant (UK)” under the list of Covid-19 variants being monitored and investigated.
Meanwhile, researchers from Australia have also reported seven sequences of Delta x Omicron among the genomic sequences uploaded from the country.
Recombination can occur when two variants infect the same host cell. Exchange of genetic material between Covid variants occurs because of the way that RNA viruses copy genomes. During replication, the enzyme that the viruses use for replication can end up stitching together bits from different variants.
Delta x Omicron is not the same as Deltacron, reported by a team of researchers in Cyprus. While a series of news reports in January claimed that Deltacron was a new variant, virologists globally refuted the scientific validity of the claim. Analysis of the sequences later indicated that Deltacron was just a contaminated sample and not a variant by itself.
Vinod Scaria, a researcher at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, explained in a thread on microblogging site Twitter that Delta x Omicron recombinants do exist but they are not called Deltacron.
“(There is) nothing to suggest at this moment that these recombinants have any additional advantage compared to omicron. More epidemiological data is being awaited as more genomes get reported from across the world,” Scaria said.
He also noted that while recombinations in SARS-COV-2 are not as frequent as seen in influenza viruses, there have been multiple recombination events reported in the Covid pandemic. For example, some previously named lineages include XA, XB and XC, Scaria said.
He added that more epidemiological data is being awaited as more genomes get reported from across the world.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that the country is beginning to see the end of the wave of the highly infectious Omicron variant…reports Asian Lite News
“We are seeing the beginning of a trend of stabilisation in the Omicron wave,” Bennett said during a live broadcast at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Bennett also expressed cautious optimism and said: “I choose my words carefully to avoid the ‘end of semester’ atmosphere, and celebrating the end of omicron is out of place,” Xinhua news agency reported.
He however, added that currently Israel is “dealing with congestion in the hospitals and a very large number of the infected people”.
The remarks came as a report issued by the Health Ministry on Sunday morning showed the coronavirus reproduction rate, known as the R number, has fallen below 1 for the first time in months.
Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, Israel has reported a total of 2,830,161 Covid-19 cases and 8,725 deaths.
The centre’s Covid research body INSACOG says BA.2 lineage, an infectious sub-variant of Omicron, has been detected in a considerable fraction in India, reports Asian Lite News
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is in the community transmission stage in the country and has become dominant in several metros where new cases have been spiking exponentially, INSACOG said in its latest bulletin.
Short for Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium, INSACOG checks variations in coronavirus across the nation to help understand how it spreads and evolves, and to suggest the best possible public health response.
The centre’s Covid research body also said BA.2 lineage, an infectious sub-variant of Omicron, has been detected in a considerable fraction in India.
While most Omicron cases so far have been asymptomatic or mild, hospitalisations and ICU cases have increased in the current wave and the threat level remains unchanged, INSACOG said in its January 10 bulletin that was released on Sunday.
“Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. BA.2 lineage is in a substantial fraction in India and S gene dropout based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives,” it said.
S-gene drop-out is a genetic variation like that of Omicron.
“The recently reported B.1.640.2 lineage is being monitored. There is no evidence of rapid spread and while it has features of immune escape, it is currently not a variant of concern. So far, no case has been detected in India,” the INSACOG said.
The INSACOG, in its bulletin of January 3 which was also released on Sunday, also said Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in Delhi and Mumbai where new cases have been rising rapidly.
“Further spread of Omicron in India is now expected to be through internal transmission, not foreign travellers, and a revised sampling and sequencing strategy of INSACOG is being worked out to address genomic surveillance objectives in the wake of dynamic changing scenario of virus infection,” the INSACOG said.
“Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination are main shields against all form mutations of SARSCoV-2 virus,” it said.
The INSACOG, under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reports genomic surveillance of SARS CoV -2 across the country through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites and also detailed state-wise district analysis for some states.
A total of 1,50,710 samples have been sequenced and 1, 27,697 samples have been analysed so far by INSACOG.
India records 3.33 lakh fresh Covid cases
India reported 3,33,533 fresh Covid cases and 525 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Sunday.
With the addition of new deaths, the toll has reached 4,89,409.
The active caseload has jumped at 21,87,205 which constitute 5.57 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
The recovery of 2,59,168 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,65,60,650. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 93.18 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 18,75,533 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 71.55 crore cumulative tests.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 16.87 per cent while daily positivity rate stands at 17.78 per cent.
With the administration of over 71 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid inoculation coverage has reached 161.92 crore as of Sunday morning.
More than 13.32 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, according to the health ministry as of Sunday morning.
Toll highest in Delhi since June 2021
Delhi reported 11,486 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, taking the national capitals overall Covid tally to 17,82,514, the health bulletin issued on Saturday said.
In the same time period, 45 persons succumbed to the virus in Delhi, the highest since June 5 last year when it had reported 68 Covid deaths. The fresh Covid fatalities have pushed the national capital’s death toll to 25,586 so far.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s positivity rate came down to 16.36 per cent with its active caseload dropping to 58,593, as per the Delhi health department. The capital’s recovery rate presently stands at 95.27 per cent.
With 14,802 patients recovering from the disease in the last 24 hours, the total number of recoveries has gone up to 16,98,335 so far. A total of 48,356 Covid patients are being treated in home isolation at present.
However, the number of Covid containment zones has risen to 43,457 in the city.
Meanwhile, a total of 70,226 tests — 56,551 RT-PCR and 13,675 Rapid Antigen — were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 3,44,01,748.
Out of the 75,837 Covid vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, 37,531 were first doses, 27,440 were second doses, and 10,866 were precautionary doses.
Africa's Covid-19 cases surpass 11.74 mn: Africa CDC The resolution "rejects and condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part", and urges all UN member states to do so as well.
The resolution commends those member states that have actively engaged in preserving those sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labour camps, killing sites and prisons during the Holocaust, as well as similar places operated by Nazi-allied regimes, their accomplices or auxiliaries.
It urges member states to develop educational programs that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.
It also urges member states and social media companies to take active measures to combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial or distortion by means of information and communications technologies and to facilitate reporting of such content.
The resolution requests the UN Outreach Programme on the Holocaust as well as all relevant UN specialized agencies to continue to develop and implement programs aimed at countering Holocaust denial and distortion, and to advance measures to mobilise civil society, and invites all relevant stakeholders to educate their societies truthfully about the facts of the Holocaust and the importance of its lessons as a countermeasure against Holocaust denial and distortion, in order to prevent future acts of genocide.
Weekly Covid-19 cases in Africa have dropped significantly and deaths dipped for the first time since the peak of the fourth wave of the pandemic propelled by the Omicron variant, said the World Health Organization (WHO)…reports Asian Lite News
New cases fell by 20 per cent in the week ending on January 16, while deaths dropped by 8 per cent, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the WHO’s Regional Office for Africa here.
According to the WHO, South Africa, where Omicron was first sequenced, has recorded a downward trend over the past four weeks, while only North Africa reported an increase in cases over the past week, with a 55 per cent spike.
The Omicron-fuelled pandemic wave has resulted in the lowest cumulative average case fatality ratio, the proportion of deaths among confirmed cases, to date in Africa, standing at 0.68 per cent compared with the three previous waves during which the case fatality ratio was above 2.4 per cent.
“While the acceleration, peak and decline of this wave have been unmatched, its impact has been moderate, and Africa is emerging with fewer deaths and lower hospitalizations. But the continent has yet to turn the tables on this pandemic,” warned Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, noting that the continent needs to brace for further waves.
“So long as the virus continues to circulate, further pandemic waves are inevitable. Africa must not only broaden vaccinations, but also gain increased and equitable access to critical Covid-19 therapeutics to save lives and effectively combat this pandemic,” Moeti said.
The African region’s current case fatality ratio remains the highest in the world, as availability of medical oxygen and Covid-19 vaccines remains a challenge across the continent, reads the statement.
“The deep inequity that left Africa at the back of the queue for vaccines must not be repeated with life-saving treatments. Universal access to diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics will pave the shortest path to the end of this pandemic and no region of the world should be left on the fringes of this endeavour,” said Moeti.
In Africa, while vaccine supplies have been on the rise in recent months, the rate of vaccination still remains low, with just 10 per cent of the continent’s population fully vaccinated.
Africa has so far received about 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and administered 327 million, said the WHO.
Israel has detected some 20 cases of a new sub-variant of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid…reports Asian Lite News
The sub-variant, known as BA.2, was discovered during genetic sequencing of Covid patients. It contains more mutations than the original Omicron and may be more violent.
While scientists were concerned about the new development, the danger posed by the new sub-variant is still uncertain.
According to Israel’s Health Ministry, there was no evidence that BA.2 behaved differently than Omicron, Jerusalem Post reported.
BA.2 was first seen in China a few weeks ago, and is suspected to have originated in India. It has also been observed in Denmark, Australia, Canada and Singapore, state media Kan reported.
Israel has in the past week seen a new record of virus carriers, increasing from 12,000 a day to 48,000.
The number of serious patients, while still limited, has also started to increase. There were 283 patients on Thursday compared with 136 a week earlier.
In addition, 284 new patients were classified as serious over the previous seven days, marking an increase of 189 per cent over the previous week, the Post reported.
However, as the Omicron causes only mild disease, the general situation of patients appears to be much better than in previous waves.
According to the World Health Organization, the Omicron variant (parent Pango lineage B.1.1.529) includes three descendent lineages (BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3). While BA.1 and BA.3 have the 69-70 deletion in the spike protein, BA.2 does not.
Recently, scientists at Department of Biotechnology’s Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) in India also noted the significant presence of both BA.1 and BA.2 in genone tests conducted in the country.
BA.1, in particular, has been co-circulating with Delta and also replacing it in Maharashtra and several other states. BA.3 has not been detected so far in the country, media reports said.
Deaths in the fourth wave on the African continent are lower than in the previous waves…reports Asian Lite News
After a six-week surge, Africa’s fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic driven primarily by the Omicron variant, is flattening, marking the shortest-lived surge to date in the continent where cumulative cases have now exceeded 10 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Weekly cases having plateaued in the week ending on January 9, Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the WHO’s regional office for Africa as saying on Thursday.
It said that Southern Africa, which saw a huge increase in infections during the pandemic wave, recorded a 14 per cent decline in infections over the past week, with South Africa, where Omicron was first reported, recording a 9 per cent fall in weekly infections.
North and West Africa, however, are witnessing a rise in cases, with North Africa reporting a 121 per cent increase this past week compared with the previous one, warned the WHO.
Across the continent, though, deaths rose by 64 per cent in the seven days ending on January 9 compared with the week before mainly due to infections among people at high-risk.
Nonetheless, deaths in the fourth wave on the African continent are lower than in the previous waves.
So far 30 African countries have detected the Omicron variant, while the Delta variant has been reported in 42 nations.
“Early indications suggest that Africa’s fourth wave has been steep and brief but no less destabilising. The crucial pandemic countermeasure badly needed in Africa still stands, and that is rapidly and significantly increasing Covid-19 vaccinations. The next wave might not be so forgiving,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa.
While the continent appears to be weathering the latest pandemic wave, vaccinations still remain low.
Just around 10 per cent of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated, noted WHO.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade on Thursday confirmed that the country will not go back to complete lockdown due to the Omicron or any other variant of the coronavirus…reports Asian Lite News
The UAE had announced lockdowns and travel restrictions after the pandemic broke out in early 2020. But it was also the first country to reopen by applying strict safety and precautionary measures throughout the country, the Khaleej Times reported.
The KT quoted Minister Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi as saying: “Omicron is way less impactful than Delta. Even during Delta, we hadn’t locked down the country (because) balance has been there (between economy and health sectors). Even with futurist variants when it comes to coronavirus, we will not go back to a full lockdown of the country.”
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), the UAE’s largest healthcare network, announced updated operational hours for its COVID-19 Drive-Through services centres across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
All of SEHA’s COVID-19 Drive-Through Centres in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain are now open seven days a week from 8 AM to 10 PM.
The decision comes as part of SEHA’s commitment to provide its patients with the highest level of customer services and support for their PCR testing needs.
SEHA provides a wide range of COVID-19 drive-through service centres in Abu Dhabi cities such as Al Wathba, Al Bahia, Al Manhal, Al Shamkha, Al Madina, Rabdan, as well as in Al Ain’s Asharej, Al Hili, Al Sarouj and Al Aamerah.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) announced 2,683 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of recorded cases in the UAE to 795,997.
According to the Ministry, the infected individuals are from various nationalities, are in a stable condition, and receiving the necessary care.
MoHAP also announced one death due to COVID-19 complications, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to 2,182.
It called on all members of the society to cooperate with health authorities, adhere to the instructions and physical distance to ensure the health and safety of all.
MoHAP also noted that an additional 1,135 individuals had fully recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 756,805
“Vaccination is a critical pillar of India’s Covid-19 response. Let’s Mask Up and get vaccinated, whoever is due. It’s fact that the vaccines are helpful to an extent,” he said…reports Asian Lite News
The Omicron variant of coronavirus is not a common cold and should not be underestimated, NITI Aayog’s Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul said on Wednesday, noting it is the reseaon behind the collapse of health infrastructure in several countries.
“Omicron is not a common cold, it is society’s responsibility to slow it down with vaccination and masks,” he said.
If we are seeing less hospitalisation, it is because of mass vaccination, he added.
“Vaccination is a critical pillar of India’s Covid-19 response. Let’s Mask Up and get vaccinated, whoever is due. It’s fact that the vaccines are helpful to an extent,” he said.
Dr Paul also said that the government is concerned about ‘overuse and misuse’ of drugs in home isolation. “There should be a rational approach for medicine use. We are concerned about the overuse & misuse of drugs. Don’t overuse, it will have aftermath. Have warm water, do gargles in home care,” he underlined.
About the new ICMR guidelines on Covid testing, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General, Dr Balram Bhargava, said that all symptomatic individuals need to be tested including all high-risk case contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases. Asymptomatic cases are not required to get tested unless they are at high risk.
Meanwhile, Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal, said that a sharp rise in Covid infections has been noted with the case positivity climbing to 11.05 per cent on Wednesday from 1.1 per cent on December 30.
Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat have emerged as states of concern, he said.
In Britain, meanwhile, new Covid-19 cases dropped to about 140,000 a day in the last week, after skyrocketing to more than 200,000 a day earlier this month, according to government data…reports Asian Lite News
More than 50 per cent of Europe’s population could be infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease in the next six-eight weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Dr Hans Kluge, European Regional Director of WHO, told reporters in Denmark on Tuesday that more than seven million Covid-19 cases were seen in the European Region in the first week of 2022.
As of 10 January, 26 countries in Europe reported that over 1 per cent of their population had been infected with Covid-19 each week, an official statement read.
“It is challenging health systems and service delivery in many countries where Omicron has spread at speed and threatens to overwhelm in many more,” Dr Kluge said.
He added that vaccines continue to provide good protection against Omicron. “Allow me to reiterate that the currently approved vaccines do continue to provide good protection against severe disease and death, including for Omicron,” he said.
Omicron variant to replace Delta as dominant global strain
The top WHO official also said that countries that are facing an Omicron surge should prioritise avoiding and reducing harm among the vulnerable and minimise disruption to health systems and essential services.
“Any decision to shorten recommended quarantine or isolation periods should be taken in combination with negative Covid-19 tests and only when considered essential to preserve critical service continuity. Any decisions to do so must be taken with careful weighing of the risks and benefits of doing so,” Dr Kluge said during the press conference in Denmark on Tuesday.
The WHO has already said that Omicron is less severe than the previous Delta, but it is not mild. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said on January 7 that Omicron is hospitalising and killing people, just like previous variants.
Rapid drop in Britain
Scientists are seeing signals that Covid-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the US, at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.
“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
At the same time, experts warn that much is still uncertain about how the next phase of the pandemic might unfold. The plateauing or ebbing in the two countries is not happening everywhere at the same time or at the same pace. And weeks or months of misery still lie ahead for patients and overwhelmed hospitals even if the drop-off comes to pass.
“There are still a lot of people who will get infected as we descend the slope on the backside,” said Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, which predicts that reported cases will peak within the week.
The University of Washington’s own highly influential model says the number of daily reported cases in the US will crest at 1.2 million by Jan. 19 and will then fall sharply “simply because everybody who could be infected will be infected,” according to Mokdad.
In fact, he said, by the university’s complex calculations, the true number of new daily infections in the US — an estimate that includes people who were never tested — has already peaked, hitting 6 million on Jan. 6.
In Britain, meanwhile, new Covid-19 cases dropped to about 140,000 a day in the last week, after skyrocketing to more than 200,000 a day earlier this month, according to government data.
Kevin McConway, a retired professor of applied statistics at Britain’s Open University, said that while cases are still rising in places such as southwest England and the West Midlands, the outbreak may have peaked in London.
The figures have raised hopes that the two countries are about to witness what happened in South Africa, where the wave crested at record highs and then fell significantly about a month later.
“We are seeing a definite falling-off of cases in the U.K., but I’d like to see them fall much further before we know if what happened in South Africa will happen here,” said Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britain’s University of East Anglia.
