SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant

The number of new cases of coronavirus worldwide has fallen by 21 percent in the last week, the third consecutive decline in COVID-19 infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly report, quoted by the Associated Press.

The South African doctor, who first discovered the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, said she had been pressured by European governments "not to state publicly that it is a mild disease".

The advent and rapid prevalence of the Omicron strain demonstrates the potential of SARS-CoV-2 to evolve its ability to transmit and cause disease. What is particularly surprising, however, is that the origin of the Omicron strain does not appear to have originated from any of the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants such as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma or Delta strains.

A sensational statement - given that we have not yet "gotten rid" of the Omicron and Delta mutations and scientists in many countries object to the easing of anti-pandemic measures - was made by Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Member of the Committee of Experts Gkikas Magiorkinis.

"There is hope and light - the end of the fifth wave of the coronavirus is visible", said the director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Iva Hristova.

The new sub-variant of Omicron BA.2 is already in Bulgaria. This is shown by data published on the website of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD).

"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.

"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.

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.

Turkovac protects against the Alpha and Delta variants of the coronavirus and trials on its effects against the Omicron variant are ongoing, the head of the center that developed the Turkish COVID-19 vaccine has said.