Category: Transmission
Brazil: 2 cases of XQ Omicron recombinant reported
Two cases of the subvariant of Covid-19 called Omicron XQ were registered in São Paulo this Thursday, 5th May 2022. More...
WHO: 14.9 million excess deaths associated with COVID-19
New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic (described as “excess mortality”) between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million). More...
USA: ABC reporter tests positive for Covid-19 after White House Correspondents’ Dinner *1 UPDATE*
In the least surprising news of 2022, ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl has tested positive for Covid-19 days after sitting next to Kim Kardashian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and interacting with President Joe Biden. More...
Italy: BA.4 detected in Lombardy
The BA.4 variant, the new Omicron sub-variant under consideration by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been genotyped in Monza, Lombardy. More...
South Africa: Covid-19 remains a threat, we cannot just let the virus spread
“Our message remains again, to say that, Covid-19 remains a threat, it’s not over, and we cannot afford to drop all the prevention measures. More...
UK: Admission and Care of Residents during COVID-19 Incident in a Care Home
Public Health England, April 2020: “Some of these patients may have COVID-19, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic. More...
SARS-CoV-2 may infect bacteria in the gut, act as a bacteriophage
“SARS-CoV-2 could .. infect bacteria in the gut microbiota, indicating that SARS-CoV-2 could act as a bacteriophage”
“Our recent studies show that microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract affect the severity of COVID-19 and for the first time provide indications that the virus might replicate in gut bacteria. More...
South Africa: BA.4 and BA.5 increasing as a proportion of sequenced cases *1 UPDATE*
An increasing share of South Africa’s Covid-19 cases are the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages of the Omicron variant, suggesting those might have a growth advantage over others, Prof Helen Rees said on Thursday. More...
Japan: New BA.1/BA.2 recombinant discovered
Japanese researchers have detected a new type of the Omicron variant which is a recombination of the BA.1 and more contagious BA.2 strains of the Omicron. More...
UKHSA suspends routine Covid testing in hospitals and care homes
More than 800 staff are due to be lost from UK health protection teams across the country in the coming months, a reduction of 40% from the current 2,000 members of staff. More...