Usa India Austria Germany city New York Britain France Netherlands county Lawrence county Young city Warwick covid-19 experts vaccine Updates Usa India Austria Germany city New York Britain France Netherlands county Lawrence county Young city Warwick

BA.2 covid variant cases spike in US, UK: 10 updates

Reading now: 193
www.livemint.com

Here are 10 updates: Covid-19 is again surging in Western Europe due to a "perfect storm" of governments lifting restrictions, waning immunity and the more contagious BA.2 Omicron subvariant, experts said Monday.

Lawrence Young, a virologist at Britain's University of Warwick, said the rising cases in Europe were due to a combination -- "a perfect storm" -- of three factors: the lifting of restrictions, waning immunity after vaccination and BA.2.

So far, the omicron subvariant BA.2 appears to be no more severe than the initial omicron strain, but there’s concern about its ability to reinfect people and its links to long Covid.

Cases are still dropping overall in the U.S., but some health experts are worried that decline won’t last for long. Already, cases are beginning to climb in New York City, where BA.2 accounts for a larger share of cases than in other parts of the country, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read more on livemint.com
The website covid-19.rehab is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.

Related News

Jason Kindrachuk - Cynthia Carr - More transmissible BA.2 subvariant on the rise in Manitoba, experts say - globalnews.ca
globalnews.ca
41%
526
More transmissible BA.2 subvariant on the rise in Manitoba, experts say
Omicron, appears to be on the rise in Manitoba.According to a provincial spokesperson, as of mid-March, 11.8 per cent of COVID-19 tests were the BA.2 subvariant and recent sequencing suggests the rate of BA.2 is increasing.With a lack of surveillance and a lack of widespread COVID-19 PCR testing, the numbers are skewed, and experts say it’s likely much higher.“Given how long this has probably been circulating and our reduction in access to lab-based testing it would be likely that those ratios are probably higher,” epidemiologist Cynthia Carr told Global News.She added that the rate the original BA.1 Omicron variant multiplied is another indicator the numbers are higher. BA.2 could mean new COVID-19 wave: scientists Experts say the more transmissible BA.2, coupled with a lack of COVID-19 restrictions in place, could be the concoction that fuels a spring wave of COVID-19.“It won’t be surprising at all if there is a spring wave associated with this variant,” Carr said.Virologist Jason Kindrachuk says BA.2 will likely push out BA.1 as the dominant strain, just as Omicron overtook Delta.“What we’re understanding now is BA.2 looks to be a bit more transmissible or transmissive than BA.1,” Kindrachuk said.“That of course, puts us into the awkward position of saying, once again, we have another variant, that is more transmissible than the last variant.”Kindrachuk said that so far, research suggests the severity of BA.2 is similar to BA.1’s.
These single moms needed support so they bought a house, raise kids together - fox29.com - city Washington, area District Of Columbia - area District Of Columbia - Washington, area District Of Columbia - county Park - state Maryland - county Harper
fox29.com
45%
951
These single moms needed support so they bought a house, raise kids together
TAKOMA PARK, Md. - It’s something you read about in books or see on television, but for friends Holly Harper and Herrin Hopper, it’s a reality.The two single moms found themselves in challenging times at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in 2020. Needing support, the two took a daydream and made it a reality when they bought a house and moved in together with their children in June 2020. They then started renting out other spaces in the house to other women, eventually forming the Siren House.The Siren House, located outside Washington, D.C., contains four separate apartments.  (Holly Harper)RELATED: Identical twin brothers each receive heart transplants: 'Quite unique'The Siren House is a four-unit home located in Takoma Park, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. "We are here for emotional support, friendships, sharing bottles of ketchup," Hopper told FOX Television Stations. "What I think Siren House is...is a safe place for people to be while they figure out things that are hard," Harper added. The massive home offers communal-style living space with each woman able to have their own living quarters with their own bedrooms and bathrooms. "We are here for emotional support, friendships, sharing bottles of ketchup," Herrin Hopper said.  (Holly Harper)Harper and Hopper said they have been friends for more than six years, but hard times fell on both of them.Harper said between 2018 and 2020, she went through a divorce, health scares and deaths in the family, including her father who died from COVID-19. Hopper was also going through her own ordeals, including a divorce.The ladies often talked, sometimes about finding new places to live.
Quebec should plan mass campaign to give out COVID-19 booster shots: vaccine committee - globalnews.ca
globalnews.ca
46%
204
Quebec should plan mass campaign to give out COVID-19 booster shots: vaccine committee
COVID-19 vaccine fourth-dose campaign for the general population that would be launched in the fall.Quebecers most vulnerable to serious consequences from the disease — seniors over 80, immunocompromised people and residents of long-term care homes — can start receiving a fourth dose of vaccine next week, health officials said Wednesday. The same day, the immunization committee said the government should start planning to give second boosters out to everyone in a few months.In a written opinion released Thursday, the Comité sur l’immunisation du Québec recommended the government implement “a new vaccine strategy aimed at periodically boosting immunity against COVID-19 while also allowing for the ability to react to a possible emergence of a new variant of concern.”Quebec to offer 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine to at-risk groups as cases, hospitalizations riseA mass second-booster campaign, the committee suggested, could take place in September or October and target “either all persons authorized to receive vaccines against COVID-19, or those usually targeted by the seasonal influenza vaccination program.”Currently, only 52 per cent of the population aged five and older have received a third dose of vaccine, according to provincial health data.The committee released an analysis of hospitalizations and deaths that occurred between January and mid-March indicating that people 80 and older were almost 200 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those under 60, and 16 times more likely to be hospitalized.
DMCA