New types of Corona virus appeared in Amsterdam

Bad news for those who thought we had finally got rid of the coronavirus. New types of coronavirus are on the rise in Amsterdam. About 7 percent of all infections are caused by the so-called BA.4 and BA.5 variants, according to the Amsterdam UMC and GGD report.

A random sample shows that 13 of the 181 tests analyzed consisted of novel variants. “In absolute terms, it’s still a tiny bit, but it’s a solid increase,” says Infectious Diseases Professor Chantal Blaker Rovers of Radbodomic. A week ago, only one test in the sample contained a BA.4 or BA.5 variant.

The new variants of the Corona virus are not more contagious

RIVM previously announced that new variants have also appeared in the Netherlands. However, the BA.2 type of omikron is still prevalent in the Netherlands. New variants of the coronavirus do not appear to be more pathogenic or contagious than existing variants of Omicron, the World Health Organization reports.

Not much in an absolute sense, but a solid increase from BA.4/5 in Amsterdam to 7% ⤵️

It is the omikron variant that is now leading to an increase in infections and hospitalizations in South Africa. https://t.co/15Wfb6ZMJ4

– Chantal Bleeker Rovers May 7, 2022

The World Health Organization previously indicated that variants BA.4 and BA.5 are circulating in Germany, Denmark and South Africa. Due to changes in the genetic material of the variants, it is possible that BA.4 and BA.5 could more easily penetrate the immune system, even though a person was previously vaccinated or infected with MERS-CoV. RIVM is still investigating this matter.

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The figures appeared on the Twitter account of the ARGOS Partnership, which stands for Regional Genomic Epidemiology in Amsterdam and Disease Outbreak Monitoring. Concerning the positive results of corona tests conducted in the hospital Amsterdam GGD Finished. The GGD area covers Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Ouethorn, Ellesmere, Demen and Oder Amstel.

Sample is not everything

across the Customized test advice Currently, only health care workers, vulnerable people, or people who need a recovery certificate are tested for GGD. It is often the last group of people who are not immunized or who have not had a booster injection. So the sample doesn’t say everything about the spread of coronavirus variants. In the previous new variants, Amsterdam was often ahead of the rest of the country, and the sample was an indicator of further progress.

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