Scientists Fear We’re Not Ready for Nightmare New COVID Variant

How fast that wave comes, and how bad it gets, probably comes down to a genetic competition between different mutations of the novel coronavirus. If we get lucky, a mild form of the virus wins out—and buys us time to prepare for a worse form of the virus that’s almost certainly coming, sooner or later.

If we’re unlucky, that worse one comes sooner.

The scientific community is taking nothing for granted. “What we have learned from this pandemic is to expect the unexpected,” Cindy Prins, a University of Florida epidemiologist, told The Daily Beast.

BA.5, an offshoot of the basic Omicron variant, was still dominant when epidemiologists began looking for the version of COVID that might come after BA.5. They’ve identified two main possibilities.

More at the source: Daily Beast

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Tokyo's daily COVID cases to exceed 40,000 in record high -FNN, citing govt sources

The daily number of COVID-19 cases in Tokyo is set to exceed 40,000 on Thursday, a record high, broadcaster FNN reported citing government sources.

People wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, make their way in Tokyo, Japan, July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Japan has seen a spike in cases recently, with total domestic cases topping 200,000 on Wednesday, according to NHK.

More at source: Reuters

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Emergency Committee meets again as Monkeypox cases pass 14,000: WHO

Monkeypox, a rare viral disease, occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa, though it has been exported to other regions.

This year, more than 14,000 cases have been reported across 71 Member States, from all six WHO regions.

While the trend in some countries has declined, others are increasing. Some, with less access to diagnostics and vaccines, make the outbreak harder to track and stem. 

Tedros revealed that six countries reported their first cases last week and that the vast majority continue to be among men who have sex with men.

“This transmission pattern represents both an opportunity to implement targeted public health interventions, and a challenge because in some countries, the communities affected face life-threatening discrimination,” he said.

He warned of “a very real concern” that men who have sex with men could be “stigmatized or blamed…making the outbreak much harder to track, and to stop”.

More at source: United Nations

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New Covid Strain Considered "Hypercontagious"

The BA.5 omicron subvariant, which is now the most prevalent coronavirus strain in the United States, is four times more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study.

The strain, which is considered "hypercontagious," according to the Mayo Clinic, is more defiant against messenger RNA vaccines, which include Pfizer and Moderna.

The BA.5 strain represented 65% of cases from July 3 to 9, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

It is contributing to increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care units across the country.

But vaccines still provide much better protection than going without the safeguards.

Unvaccinated people have about a five times higher chance of contracting the virus than those who are vaccinated and boosted, while chances of hospitalization are 7.5 times higher, and chances of death are 14 to 15 times higher, said Dr. Gregory Poland, head of the Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group.

More at source: Mayo Clinic

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Headed in a bad direction’: Omicron variant may bring second-largest US Covid wave

“Covid-19 is very clearly not over. We’re seeing dramatic increases in the number of cases and hospitalizations in many places throughout the United States,” said Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health.

As BA.5, one of the Omicron sub-variants, begins buffeting the US, “we’re headed in a bad direction”, Salemi said. “We’ve seen it coming for a while … We’ve seen it go pretty unabated.”

More than one in three Americans live in a county at medium risk from Covid, and one in five are at high risk, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . That’s the highest proportion of the country facing risks since February, Salemi said.

More at source: Guardian

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Top NY Doctor: New COVID Wave Is Starting, With the ‘Worst Version' of Omicron

A new COVID wave appears to be starting in New York City, fueled by the strongest subvariant of the omicron strain of coronavirus to date, one of the city's top epidemiologists said Tuesday.

The BA.5 subvariant, first seen in South Africa and then Portugal, is considered by some experts to be the "worst version" of omicron seen yet, given its apparent capacity to escape prior immunity and transmit more readily.

Dr. Jay Varma, a Weill Cornell epidemiologist and formerly then-mayor Bill de Blasio's top public health advisor during the pandemic, said infections appear to have stabilized at a high level in the city, rather than dropping.

"The decline of reported #COVID19 cases in NYC has stopped. Reported cases are at a high plateau, which means actual transmission is very high when you account for the >20x under-counting. This is likely the beginning of a BA.5 wave," Varma tweeted.

More at Source: NBCNY

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Nearly 1 in 5 adults who had COVID have lingering symptoms - U.S. study

June 22 (Reuters) - Nearly 1 in 5 American adults who reported having COVID-19 in the past are still having symptoms of long COVID, according to survey data collected in the first two weeks of June, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.

Overall, 1 in 13 adults in the United States have long COVID symptoms lasting for three months or more after first contracting the disease, and which they did not have before the infection, the data showed...

More at source: Reuters

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FLORIDA COVID-19 CASES CLIMB AS NEW VARIANTS SPREAD

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — With COVID-19 cases in the Tampa Bay area climbing again, 8 On Your Side looked into what’s driving the spike and whether the old treatments still work.

You might feel like more people around you are getting coronavirus. It’s not in your head.

Data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an uptick. Experts say new sub-variants of Omicron are spreading around the state. Most of those in the Tampa Bay area are in a neighborhood with levels of COVID-19.

More at source: WFLA

Florida COVID-19 cases climb as new variants spread

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — With COVID-19 cases in the Tampa Bay area climbing again, 8 On Your Side looked into what’s driving the spike and whether the old treatments still work.

You might feel like more people around you are getting coronavirus. It’s not in your head.

Data from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows an uptick. Experts say new sub-variants of Omicron are spreading around the state. Most of those in the Tampa Bay area are in a neighborhood with levels of COVID-19.

More at source: WFLA

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CDC raises monkeypox alert as global cases surpass 1,000

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stepped up its monkeypox guidance, urging people to take extra precautions as global cases of the virus surpass 1,000.

The CDC ramped up its alert to LEVEL 2 on Monday, encouraging people to “practice enhanced precautions” to stem the outbreak, which has spread to 29 nonendemic countries in the past month. The highest level alert — level 3 — would caution against nonessential travel.

While the public health body said the risk to the general public remains low, the heightened alert encourages people to avoid close contact with sick people, including those with skin or genital lesions, as well as sick or dead animals. It also urges those displaying symptoms of the virus, such as an unexplained rash and lesions, to avoid contact with others and to reach out to their health-care provider for guidance.

The CDC originally recommended on its website that travelers wear face masks to help prevent the spread of monkeypox but later removed it.

Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, with symptoms including rashes, fever, headaches, muscle ache, swelling and backpain. 

It is typically endemic to Central and West African countries, but the recent outbreak across North America, Europe and Australia has confounded health professionals and raised fears of community spread.

More at source: CNBC

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