Leading scientists in the United Kingdom have warned that the country will see a new wave of Covid-19 as infections begin to rise thanks to two more variants of Omicron.
Last week, new data showed that Covid-19 infections in the UK rose 43% in the week following the platinum anniversary celebrations, with the two new sub-options believed to be behind the sudden increase.
In addition, about 1.4 million people in the United Kingdom had coronavirus in the week ending June 11, up from about 990,000 the previous week.
1.4 million people in the UK had coronavirus in the week ending 11 June
(PA conductor)
Speaking at a briefing at the Independent Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) in May, Professor Christina Pagel said: “The new wave is now beginning.
She added: “This month we will have a new wave of infections. Now we hope that it will not be as high as the previous two waves and may be lower. But we can’t count on that, and we’ll see more people getting infected anyway. “
Here are the most infectious variants of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic:
The original virus:
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 first appeared in Wuhan, China in 2019. By March 2021, Covid-19 had spread around the world, causing national blockades and border closures as the world faced global health. pandemic.
There are currently about eleven variants being observed, including the well-known Alpha and Delta variants.
But the only strain currently of concern comes from the Omicron family. This means that it is more contagious, can cause more serious illness and may be less susceptible to public health measures.
Alpha
The Alpha variant was first discovered in the United Kingdom and is a problematic variant in December 2020. By December 2021, it has been identified in 192 locations worldwide.
The alpha variant has 17 mutations compared to the original Wuhan strain.
Leading scientists in the UK have warned that the country will see a new wave of Covid-19
(EPA)
It is about 1.5 times more transmissible than earlier versions of covid, and the risk of death is about 1.6 times higher, according to BMJ.
delta:
Originally identified in India in late 2020, the Delta strain has spread worldwide and is thought to have led to the third wave in the UK in the autumn of 2021.
According to data analyzed by ONS, the risk of death associated with Covid-19 was estimated to be 67 percent lower after Omicron infection compared to Delta, making Delta more lethal.
The risk of death associated with Covid-19 is estimated to be 67% lower after Omicron infection compared to Delta
(PA conductor)
A study by The Lancet also found that the Delta option could lead to a higher health burden than the Alpha strain, as it reported that people in England had a double risk of being hospitalized with Delta than with Alpha.
Omicron:
Omicron established itself in the UK at the end of 2021, hampering plans for Christmas and New Year.
It was first discovered in South Africa in November 2021 and now has several sub-variants, two of which are currently raising concerns about another wave.
In mid-May, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) upgraded the Covid-19 Omicron BA.4 and Omicron BA.5 variants to worrying variants. Previously, BA.2 – also known as Stealth Omicron – was the most famous variant in the United Kingdom.
Omicron is more portable than the original virus, first seen in Wuhan and Delta.
Its ability to evade immunity may be due to the fact that more than 30 of the variant mutations are on the spike protein of the virus, which attaches to human cells.
However, the variant is usually milder than the infections caused by the Delta variant, although it can still cause severe infections and death.
At a SAGE conference in January, they cited an analysis by Imperial College London that suggested a 35-65 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization for Omicron compared to Delta in the latest wave for those who had two doses of the vaccine.
In addition, during the peak of the Omicron wave, Imperial researchers found that the risk of re-infection with Omicron was 5.4 times higher than in the Delta variant.
Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, said: “The omicron variant is responsible for the biggest jump since 2019.
The new strains BA.4 and BA.5 have more in common with the earlier, more dangerous variants Alpha and Delta, because they may have evolved to prevent lung cell infection, according to preliminary data from Kei Sato of the University of Tokyo and colleagues.
While the highly transmitted original Omicron is targeted to the tissues of the upper respiratory tract, which may be why infections are milder in most people.
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