COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

A sub-variant of the Omicron coronavirus variant has been found in 57 countries.

This was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO), reports AFP and BTA.

It is possible that it will be even more contagious than the original version, according to AFP.

Turkey's Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has said the difficult period in the fight against COVID-19 has been left behind and life will turn to normal soon, but stressed the current personal measures taken in protection against the virus will continue.

Noting that the pandemic was still on the agenda, Koca assured that "this will change in a short time."

Denmark on Tuesday became the first European Union country to lift all restrictions on Covid-19, AFP reported. The country plans to deal with the lighter variant of Omicron, despite the record number of cases, relying on the high level of vaccination.

"The cellular immunity of vaccinated and sick people is strong enough against Omicron. I expect a decrease in the cases in Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Pernik, Kyustendil and an increase in Northeastern Bulgaria within a week. In the Burgas region, the cases will be stationed and reduced. At the end of March we will have a sharp decline," this was stated on Nova TV by Prof.

"We do not have a protocol on how to treat children and pregnant women with covid. Most people do not want to register, most parents do not want to examine their children. With Omicron the disease is milder than a mild flu - runny nose and sore throat for 2 days and ends.

The Omicron sub-variant with the scientific name BA.2, also known as "stealth" or Omicron 2, which is constantly gaining ground in several countries, is not a cause for serious concern, as it is unlikely to "insidiously" create a new catastrophic epidemic. wave and change the course of the pandemic again.

"We have been climbing the fifth wave of Covid all week and we have no reason to be optimistic. I think we will reach a peak next week - maybe by Tuesday, Wednesday we will have 15,000 infected a day, after which there will be a decline." This was said to BNR by Prof. Penka Petrova, director of the Institute of Microbiology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

"I do not believe that Omicron will end the pandemic. New variants of the virus are constantly appearing. The mutation of the virus is a normal biological process. For every virus - not just this one. There will be many other mutations. The question is not whether the pandemic with Omicron will disappear, but what measures will be taken.

"We observe people with COVID-19 brought by their relatives, and then they do not appear in the quarantined list at all. Contacts are not isolated, they continue to walk the streets. It is not a betrayal to say who was in contact with you when you are infected". This was stated by Dr. Gergana Nikolova from BMA on Nova TV.

She also said that it is not yet clear whether this subspecies is more contagious than the original.
Tjaa ohar Cretnik also said that the omicron subspecies BA.2 was discovered in Podravje, adding that, according to unconfirmed data, there is a possibility that two more BA.2 cases were discovered at the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology in Ljubljana.