Category: Science
Scientific articles about the coronavirus
UK: February risk assessment for the BA.2 Omicron strain
The February 2022 risk assessment for the BA.2 strain from the UKHSA. More...
Denmark: Omicron BA.2_H78Y found in nearly 30% of samples – up 5% in one week
Denmark’s SSI has just released its latest Covid trend report which shows that the BA.2_H78Y subvariant of Omicron now appears in almost 30% of all sequences. More...
Preprint: Omicron BA.1 infection in mink leads to symptomatic disease with lung pathology and transmission
Experimental infection of American mink with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant BA.1 show that minks remain virus RNA positive for days, develop clinical signs and histopathological changes, and transmit the virus to uninfected recipient. More...
UK: Second Deltacron recombinant reported – Delta AY.4 and Omicron BA.1
Another Deltacron variant has been reported in the UK today, this one combining the Delta variant AY.4 and the Omicron variant BA.1. More...
UK Covid dashboard figures “totally misleading and should be abandoned”
The head of the ZOE Covid app in Great Britain, Tim Spector, took aim at the UK government’s Covid dashboard figures today, saying they are “totally misleading and should be abandoned”. More...
Preprint: Omicron BA.2 is more pathogenic than BA.1
“Infection experiments using hamsters show that BA.2 is more pathogenic than BA.1”
Statistical analysis shows that the effective reproduction number of BA.2 is 1.4-fold higher than that of BA.1. More...
Hong Kong: Hamster-to-human reverse zoonosis involving Delta AY.127 and B.1.258 *1 UPDATE*
An interspecies spill-over in Hong Kong has triggered Covid transmission chains involving 58 patients epidemiologically linked to three pet shops. More...
Australia: possible Queensland Deltacron cluster identified *1 UPDATE*
We’ve seen several sequences collected early this year in Queensland, Australia being called Omicron unassigned by Pangolin and show similar patterns: ORF1ab mutations are more like from Delta with high alternate freq. More...
Germany delays its Covid-19 vaccine mandate
Germany’s plans to introduce a general vaccination mandate this spring are faltering, as a growing number of politicians question if it will find a majority in parliament. More...
