Have Omicron cases hit peak? Data from South Africa, UK hints so

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Have Omicron cases hit peak? Data from South Africa, UK hints so

The super-mutant Omicron variant that has rapidly spread to 106 countries in less than a month from its discovery, may have peaked, suggests data from South Africa and the UK.

South Africa’s Gauteng Province – the epicentre of Omicron infection – has shown a decrease, according to the country’s latest weekly epidemiological update.

Gauteng reported a 3.9 per cent decrease in the number of Omicron infections, compared to the previous week (377 cases per 100,000 persons). However, all other provinces reported an increase.

“In the past week, all provinces reported an increase in weekly incidence risk, except the Gauteng Province which reported a decrease (15.1 cases per 100,000 persons, 3.9 per cent decrease), compared to the previous week,” the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, wrote in the update.

The increase in cases ranged from 81.7 per cent in Limpopo Province to 254.6 per cent increase) in the Free State Province.

Between November 12 and 20, 77 Covid virus samples were analysed from Gauteng. Genome sequencing and other genetic analysis showed that the Omicron variant was responsible for all the samples. Post this, the number of cases rose significantly in Gauteng, achieving dominance in South Africa as well as other countries. Tests reveal an estimated 90 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Gauteng since mid-November have been Omicron.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Covid cases have plateaued for six days now, having hit a peak of more than 93,000 on Friday, the Daily Mail reported.

In London, which was a hotbed for Omicron, a total of 20,491 cases were recorded on Tuesday, down slightly from Monday’s tally of 22,750.

Omicron cases “look like they’ve peaked”, Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, was quoted as saying.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, it does look like Omicron has stopped growing. The numbers over the last few days seem to have plateaued and maybe even be falling,” Hunter said.

However, he added that “it’s a bit too soon to be absolutely sure about that”.

“We have to be a little bit careful because it’s only a few days.”

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the UK so far has recorded 60,508 cases of Omicron. Fourteen patients have died from the strain and 129 have been hospitalised.

Further, Hunter said that Omicron overtook the other variants around December 14 to gain dominance in the country.

“So if it was still doubling every two days that would have shown and we should have been at 200,000 cases yesterday and certainly more than 200,000 cases today,” Hunter said.

“But the fact it has been around 91,000 raises the point that it might actually have peaked. But it will probably take until at least Wednesday to get an idea of a day that is not affected by the weekend,” he added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has completely ruled out any further curbs being introduced before December 25.

However, he said the government is still monitoring the “finely balanced” situation with Omicron “very carefully” and is “ready to take action” afterwards if necessary, the report said.

Australian scientists develop speedy Covid-19 test

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Australian scientists develop speedy Covid-19 test

Australian researchers have developed a test which can provide highly accurate readings for Covid-19 from a finger prick of blood within 20 minutes.

The point-of-care (POC) test, created by scientists from the Burnet Institute and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, is the first of its kind in the world, according to the research unveiled on Wednesday.

While many POC tests can measure the overall level of antibody to SARS-CoV-2 and use this to estimate neutralising antibodies (NAb), the researchers say their test is the only one to measure NAb activity, which correlates with immune protection for Covid, Xinhua news agency reported.

Writing about their breakthrough in the journal EBioMedicine, the scientists note the versatile test can be adapted to provide information about whether a person has protective antibodies against a particular disease variant, such as Omicron.

The rise of the Omicron variant, which early studies suggest may be up to 40 times less sensitive to patient NAb than Delta, means that some people will suddenly go from having adequate protective NAb, to not having enough.

Burnet Institute deputy director Associate Professor David Anderson said the POC test could therefore be useful to quickly indicate when a vaccine booster was required.

“One of the key elements of the test is that it can work with finger-prick whole blood, which is essential if it is really going to be used at point-of-care,” Anderson said.

“Another advantage is we have demonstrated that we can readily substitute different variants into the test. While we have not yet tested Omicron, this will be simple enough to incorporate in our test in place of the original strain or variants we have tested.”

It would also provide a standardised test to assist in the safe reopening of national and international borders in the context of different vaccines and the variable responses among various populations.

The scientists expect that the test will become a new option for immunity screening to support vaccination and control programmes, particularly in time-critical situations and among impoverished or isolated communities where laboratory-based testing is difficult to access.

Now in its prototype phase, the scientists are seeking commercial partners to develop the manufacturing process and take the test to an international market.

Burnet Diagnostics Initiative (BDI) director Jennifer Barnes said the collaborative efforts of the two institutions had led to an outcome in “record time.”

“The BDI aims to enhance the translation of new technologies to practical health solutions through significant partnerships with academic collaborators and industry,” Barnes said.

“The NAb test is a great example of this as we look for a global partner to bring the test to market.”

India reports 6,317 fresh Covid cases, Omicron tally at 213

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India reports 6,317 fresh Covid cases, Omicron tally at 213

India registered 6,317 fresh Covid cases and 318 deaths in the last 24 hours, and the Omicron tally has reached 213, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

With the addition of 318 new deaths, the death toll has climbed to 4,78,325.

Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally has climbed at 213 across the nation. However, out of total Omicron positive, 90 have been discharged. So far 15 states have reported Omicron infection, said the ministry.

The recovery of 6,906 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,42,01,966. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020.

India’s active caseload is presently at 78,190, the lowest in 575 days. Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country’s total positive cases, which is the lowest since March 2020.

Also in the same period, a total of 12,29,512 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 66.73 crore cumulative tests.

Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate at 0.58 per cent has remained less than 1 per cent for the last 38 days now.

The daily positivity rate stands at 0.51 per cent, which has also remained below 2 per cent for the last 79 days and less than 3 per cent for 114 consecutive days now.

With the administration of 57,05,039 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid inoculation coverage has reached 138.96 crore as of Wednesday morning.

More than 17.73 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered, according to the health ministry as of Wednesday morning,

S. Korea reports 7,456 more Covid cases

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S. Korea reports 7,456 more Covid cases

South Korea reported 7,456 more cases of Covid-19 as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 583,065.

The daily caseload was up from 5,202 in the previous day, rising above 7,000 in three days due to higher virus tests on weekdays.

The recent resurgence was attributable to small cluster infections in the Seoul metropolitan area, Xinhua news agency reported.

Of the new cases, 2,779 were Seoul residents. The number of newly infected people living in Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon was 2,192 and 475, respectively.

The virus spread also raged in the non-metropolitan region. The number of new infections in the non-capital areas was 1,919, or 26.1 per cent of the total local transmission.

The number of the Omicron variant infections was 234, including 74 imported cases and 160 domestic transmissions, up seven from the prior day.

Ninety-one cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 16,537.

The number of infected people who were in a serious condition stood at 1,063, up 41 from the previous day.

Seventy-eight more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 4,906. The total fatality rate was 0.84 per cent.

The country has administered Covid vaccines to 43,703,161 people, or 85.1 per cent of the total population, and the number of fully inoculated people was 42,175,680, or 82.1 per cent of the population.

The number of those who received booster shots was 13,081,896, or 25.5 per cent of the population.

Global Covid caseload tops 276.2 mn

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Global Covid caseload tops 276.2 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 276.2 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.36 million and vaccinations to over 8.76 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 276,200,632 and 5,368,422, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 8,767,449,046.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 51,272,854 and 810,045, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,752,164 infections and 478,007 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,219,477 infections and 617,948 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (11,607,864), Russia (10,089,945), Turkey (9,211,710), France (8,818,154), Germany (6,869,505), Iran (6,175,782), Spain (5,585,054), Italy (5,436,143), Argentina (5,404,380) and Colombia (5,110,788), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (297,916), Russia (293,329), Peru (202,295), the UK (147,896), Indonesia (144,024), Italy (135,931), Iran (131,167), Colombia (129,534), France (122,931), Argentina (116,953) and Germany (109,028).

Omicron spread: UK scientists call for urgent Covid rules

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Omicron spread: UK scientists call for urgent Covid rules

Amid mounting cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19, scientists in the UK have called for urgent rules, warning that waiting till New Year to enforce the measures may be “too late”.

The UK has so far recorded over 37,000 confirmed cases of Omicron, with a majority of cases detected in the last two days, and 12 deaths.

PM Boris Johnson has ruled out introducing immediate new Covid restrictions in England. The current restrictions in England don’t include limits on socialising.

Scientists have reacted with dismay, emphasising that waiting until the new year would “almost certainly be too late to have a material impact on the epidemic”, The Guardian reported.

Because the rate of growth in infection rates may already have plateaued or fallen by then, it may also be too late to know what impact those restrictions would have had if they had been introduced earlier, they said.

“We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia was quoted as saying.

After a cabinet meeting, the PM announced that he would not be introducing any further Covid restrictions for now, adding: “The situation is extremely difficult and the arguments either way are very, very finely balanced.”

Data on the hospitalisation rate for those infected with the Omicron variant would be kept under “constant review”, he said, with government sources hinting that further restrictions were likely after Christmas.

Yet, with Omicron infections currently doubling within 48 hours in most regions of the UK, the country may already have reached a ceiling where the rate of growth begins to fall and case numbers plateau, the report said.

Hunter believes that point could come within days, with or without interventions.

“If we implement control measures now, they are unlikely to be sufficient to reverse the growth, only slow it,” he said. “But there may still be benefits in slowing the peak, in terms of flattening the curve.”

Prof Christina Pagel, the director of University College London’s clinical operational research unit, said: “Waiting for definitive evidence that it could cause the NHS to be overwhelmed will be too late to avert the crisis.”

Pagel suggested that instead, the government should follow the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies advice and “return to step 2 of the roadmap immediately” to prevent soaring infections and “then monitor the situation hour by hour so that measures can be lifted as quickly as possible, hopefully even in time to enable limited household mixing over Christmas weekend”.

The step 2 measures includes, people only being allowed to socialise indoors with members of their household or a support bubble, and outdoor socialising being limited to groups of six people or two households, including at pubs and restaurants, the report said.

Omicron becomes dominant variant in US as holiday gatherings begin

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Omicron becomes dominant variant in US as holiday gatherings begin

Omicron has taken the hold to become the dominant Covid-19 variant in the US as more people are travelling and gathering for holidays.

The infection cases caused by Omicron amounted to 73.2 per cent of all infection cases in the week ending December 18, from 12.6 per cent of all infection cases in the week ending December 11, according to the latest model estimates of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At the beginning of this month, Omicron only accounted for 0.7 per cent of all infection cases.

Omicron is spreading rapidly nationwide and has been found in at least 48 US states as of Monday, since the first case in the country was detected in California on December 1.

The unprecedented infectiousness of the Omicron variant and its possible ability to evade the immune system have stoked concerns across the nation. However, experts said preliminary data suggest the new variant appear to cause less severe symptoms and hospitalisations.

Covid-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations continued to surge in the United States, leading to cancellation of large events including sports games and live concerts. Some colleges have shifted back to online classes and exams for the rest of the semester to make students go back home earlier.

The country is averaging about 130,000 new cases daily, a 10 per cent increase from the previous week, the latest CDC data showed.

The seven-day average of daily deaths is about 1,180, up 8.2 per cent from the prior week, according to the CDC weekly data.

Currently, the US is witnessing about 7,800 new hospital admissions each day, a 4.4-per cent increase from the previous week, the data showed.

New York State set Covid-19 infection record for a third straight day on Sunday with more than 22,000 positive cases. People waited in long lines at testing sites.

However, the surge in new infection cases did not deter people from flying for holidays. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has screened over two million passengers for a fourth day in a row.

The TSA expected up to 21 million Americans will fly between December 23 and January 3.

Experts warned the US is moving toward Christmas in dramatically different shape than it was before Thanksgiving.

A month ago, case counts had been rising, to about 90,000 per day on average. For much of December cases appeared to hover around 120,000 but recently leaped above 130,000 per day, Johns Hopkins University data showed.

Health experts urged the public to test before heading for travels and large gatherings, getting vaccinated and boosted, masking in public indoor settings, and practicing physical distancing to slow transmissions.

Covid-19 virus harms human immune system: Israeli research

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Covid-19 virus harms human immune system: Israeli research

Israeli researchers have found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, harms the human immune system, Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in southern Israel said on Monday.

In a genetic study published in the journal iScience, BGU researchers tried to find out what causes the “stormy” nature of Covid-19, which is also manifested in an extreme reaction of the immune system, Xinhua news agency reported.

For this purpose, they analyzed for a year, using computational biology, gene expression in patients from around the world.

The team examined whether mitochondria, cell organs that produce energy, are damaged during Covid-19 illness, resulting in dysfunction of the body.

Surprisingly, the researchers identified damage to the mitochondria of immune system cells, rather than to lung cells’ mitochondria.

The mitochondrial damage in immune cells explains the “cytokine storm” phenomenon, which is a reaction of the immune system, appearing with symptoms such as fever, swelling and extreme fatigue, the researchers said.

“Based on the results, it is possible to use existing treatments to target mitochondria and thus improve patients’ condition,” they concluded.

Moderna says its booster shot effective against Omicron

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Moderna says its booster shot effective against Omicron

US drugmaker Moderna on Monday announced that its booster shot increases neutralising antibodies against the new vaccine evading Omicron variant, compared to two doses.

An authorised dose of 50 microgram booster increased neutralising antibody levels against Omicron by approximately 37-fold compared to pre-boost levels, the company said in a statement.

“The dramatic increase in Covid-19 cases from the Omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data showing that the currently authorised Moderna Covid-19 booster can boost neutralising antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels are reassuring,” said Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, in the statement.

The company added that doubling the booster dose to 100 microgram increased neutralising titers 83-fold higher than pre-boost levels.

The results haven’t been peer reviewed yet. The company plans to share the data with government health officials.

While the 100 microgram booster dose was “generally safe and well tolerated”, however, there “was a trend toward slightly more frequent adverse reactions” following it compared to the authorised dose.

The company said it will also continue to develop an Omicron-specific booster candidate which should enter clinical trials in early 2022.

The hyper mutated Omicron variant of concern is spread so far to about 90 countries, raising serious concerns about the reduced vaccine efficacy and the increased risk of reinfection.

A third shot of Covid vaccine from Pfizer has also shown to provide significant protection against the new Omicron variant, according to study by the Israeli researchers.

However, a booster dose of Covid developed by China’s Sinopharm has shown to generate weaker immune responses against Omicron.

A yet-to-be peer reviewed study led by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University showed that neutralising antibody activity of a Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV booster against Omicron showed a 20.1-fold reduction, compared with its activity against a Wuhan strain.

Odisha CM launches air health service for four remote districts

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Odisha CM launches air health service for four remote districts

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Vayu Swasthya Seva’ (CM’s air health service) for four remote districts in the state.

Patnaik launched the service by flagging off a chopper from the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar.

The service has been launched for tribal-dominated Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts. Specialists such as neurologists, nephrologists and cardiologists will be flown to the district headquarter hospitals (DHHs) to treat the patients.

On Monday a six-member team including doctors of super specialty departments flew to Malkangiri. The state government will meet the expenses of the service, officials said.

Terming it as a historic move in healthcare, Health Minister Naba Kishore Das said: “The main objective of the programme is to provide quality health services to the patients, who are unable to visit cities like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to avail super specialty care.”

“In the first phase the service has been launched for four districts. If required we will extend the service to other places, which don’t have proper communication facilities,” Das said.

As per the requirement of the patients listed by the district healthcare authorities, senior doctors will be deployed to the concerned district through the chopper, said director of health services, Bijay Mohapatra. The required medical equipment will also be supplied to the districts, the director added.

Senior physician Datteswar Hota (urologist), a member of the team flown to Malkangiri on Monday, said: “We will stay in Malkangiri for two days and provide treatment to patients while our second team of doctors will stay for another two days to look after the post-surgery care of the patients.”

Last year, the state government had launched a boat ambulance service in Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district and remote areas near Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district. The service was launched to ferry patients of the remote and interior areas to hospitals and clinics in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister inaugurated T-Setu, the state’s longest bridge constructed over the Mahanadi in Cuttack district at a cost of Rs 111 crore.

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