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Developments with the SARS-CoV-2 variant continued to dominate global COVID-19 news today, with the UK reporting more record case numbers and new reports revealing more about prevalence and risk.
Meanwhile, a new risk assessment from European health officials said the UK variant may have emerged in September and is expected to increase hospitalizations and deaths, with more countries reporting the detection of the South African variant virus.
Cases in the United Kingdom reach a new daily maximum, a variant detected in increasing proportions
Public Health England (PHE) today at Twitter reported 53,135 new cases, marking a new high in one day for the country. Susan Hopkins, MD, PHE senior medical adviser, said that while the cases reported today reflect a delay in vacation, they largely reflect an actual increase. “We continue to see record levels of COVID-19 infection across the UK, which is of extreme concern, particularly as our hospitals are the most vulnerable,” he said.
A risk assessment conducted today by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said more than 3,000 cases related to the UK variant have been reported so far, and although it accounts for a growing proportion of cases in London, the South East and the UK. In the east, cases have also been reported in other parts of the UK.
The latest update of the variant from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 6 out of 10 cases in London are due to the UK variant.
In the ECDC risk assessment, officials also discussed the similar but separate South African variant, which has been detected twice in two different parts of the UK in contacts of symptomatic people who returned from visiting South Africa. Finland has also reported a similar case. In South Africa, this variant was first seen in October, has been confirmed in more than 300 cases, and is now the dominant strain in the country. According to the latest media reports, the South African variant has also been detected in Australia and Japan.
The risk of further spread of the variants is high, and while they do not appear to cause a more serious infection, their increased transmissibility could increase hospitalizations and deaths and put more pressure on health systems, the ECDC said.
Studies shed more clues about the UK variant and the impact of vaccination
In related developments, PHE yesterday released its second technical report on the virus variant, detailing a case-control study noted yesterday by World Health Organization (WHO) officials, which reveals that the UK variant does not show no difference in hospitalizations, case-fatality rates in 28 days or reinfection.
The technical report said health officials are using the dropout of the S gene in some polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test systems as a more timely indicator to track the virus variant and that the proportion continued to rise in December. in all age groups, but especially in adults aged 25 to 49 years.
Today, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated that the UK must vaccinate 2 million people each week to avoid a third surge in COVID-19. In a report posted on the preprint server of the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases, the group said that the only way to keep the intensive care unit (ICU) load below that of the first increase is to combine the measures of Level 4 control with keeping schools closed in January and achieving 2 million weekly vaccinations. Exceeding that level of vaccine absorption would have an even greater impact, the authors said.
A small overall decrease could reflect the effects of holiday reports
The World Health Organization (WHO) said in its weekly situation report that 4 million cases of COVID-19 were reported last week, with a decrease of 12% that should be interpreted with caution due to the Christmas season at the end of year. The Americas region accounted for the highest percentages of new cases, and while cases in the European region remain high, illnesses and deaths decreased compared to the previous week. Other regions saw increases, including Africa and the western Pacific.
In other developments:
- The Netherlands is reporting its highest level of excess deaths since World War II, due to the impacts of the pandemic, the New York Times reported, based on data from the country’s statistics office.
- A seroprevalence study by the China Center for Disease Control suggests that the number of Wuhan residents infected with the virus is 10 times higher than confirmed cases, according to CNN. The study was conducted after the first wave was contained and also assessed seroprevalence in some of the other major cities in the country. It found that the 4.43% seroprevalence rate in Wuhan suggests up to 500,000 infections, compared to 50,354 officially reported.
- The global COVID-19 total has risen to 81,746,514 cases, with 1,784,105 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online panel.
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