Health chiefs have declared two new Covid ‘variants of concern’, but experts say there is NO reason to panic

Today, two other Omicron strains are classified as Covid treatment variants, but experts insist there is no cause for concern.

Only a small number of cases of BA.4 and BA.5 have been identified so far in the UK.

But the data suggest they likely have a “growth advantage” over BA.2, the currently dominant variant.

UKHSA chiefs say the subspecies is likely to have the ability to bypass the protection afforded by previous infections and vaccines.

As of 20 May, 115 probable or confirmed cases of BA.4 had been identified, with 67 in England, 41 in Scotland, six in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, 80 cases of BA.5 have been identified, including 48 in England, 25 in Scotland, six in Northern Ireland and one in Wales.

The news comes with the latest data showing that Covid cases in the UK continue to fall and the outbreak hit its lowest level since mid-December last year.

Virologist Professor Ian Jones from the University of Reading said there is no need to panic about the new variants as there is currently no evidence of increased disease severity.

“Furthermore, I haven’t seen any signs of changing severity, so it’s not clear to what extent an increase in hospital cases might increase,” he said.

‘Like this, [it’s] Disappointing news in the sense that it could reverse the current downtrend, but there is no real concern for now.

Both BA.4 and BA.5 were spotted in South Africa earlier this year. South Africa saw a recent spike in Covid cases in April, but now cases seem to be on the decline

Dr. Kit Yates, a mathematical biologist at the University of Bath, pointed out that countries with significant waves of new variables did not experience an increase in BA.2 cases as in the UK, but whether this provides additional protection remains to be seen.

It is possible that the new variants will be lighter than the Omicron, but time will tell.

“It’s also possible that it’s just another step in the virus’s inevitable journey to a banal infection in an essentially immunized population, in which case it may not require special attention,” he said.

UKHSA said further work on the new variants is ongoing.

BA.4 and BA.5 were first discovered in South Africa in January and February of this year.

Covid cases have skyrocketed in the country over the past month, but are now starting to decline.

Another British expert, University of Warwick virologist Professor Lawrence Young, said current data show that vaccines resist new variants.

“While there is no evidence of it being more severe than previous variants, BA.4 and BA.5 appear to be more contagious,” he said.

“The good news is that existing vaccines appear to be resistant to these new variants and protect against serious diseases.”

However, he stressed that the emergence of these new variants demonstrates the need to continue monitoring Covid cases for new versions of the virus, and the need for continuous virus monitoring through testing.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease specialist at the University of East Anglia, said it is difficult to predict whether the increase in cases caused by the new variants will lead to an increase in hospital admissions.

But he added data from South Africa, where BA.4 is now dominant, suggesting that cases are already peaking and hospitalizations are not increasing dramatically.

“I suspect that at best this will keep the number of infections from decreasing further and possibly lead to a new increase in the number of infections, but it probably won’t have that big of an impact,” he said.

The latest data from South Africa has recorded 80,791 Covid cases in the country since yesterday.

Dr. Kit Yates, a mathematical biologist at the University of Bath, reported on Twitter that countries that currently have waves of new variables are not experiencing a BA.2 wave like the United Kingdom.

This could mean that previous BA.2 infection may offer some protection against the new variants, but this has yet to be confirmed.

“Other countries (Portugal and SA) that experienced significant BA.4/BA.5 waves did not have BA.2 waves of the same magnitude as ours,” he wrote.

“But we’ll see if our BA.2 wave will reduce the size of potential BA.4 and BA.5 waves.”

The UK’s decision to declare BA.4 and BA.5 as a cause for concern comes after the European health authorities’ decision last week.

Although there are no restrictions, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that one in a million, or one in 55 people, on any given day of the week through May 13 carries the virus to levels last seen in mid-December.

On May 13, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a report that BA.4 and BA.5 could lead to an increase in the number of cases on the continent, with an increased risk of hospitalizations. – and pressure IC.

ECDC said BA.5 is expected to be the most common Covid variant in Portugal by 22 May.

EU health leaders warned that both new variants could surpass the immunity provided by both a previous Covid infection and a vaccine “especially if it dwindles over time”, and countries should consider supporting their vulnerable citizens.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate that more than a million, or one in 55 people, are infected every day in the UK in the week to 13 May.

Week to week that’s less than 1.2 million, or one in 45.

Similar decreases were reported in other British countries, with an estimated one in 45 in Scotland, one in 40 in Wales and one in 60 in Northern Ireland.

This is the sixth consecutive week that the ONS weekly survey, currently the best barometer of the epidemic, reported a weekly decline in the number of cases despite the absence of any Covid restrictions.

The government relies on the study, which relied on swabs from 120,000 random people to detect the virus, as free testing has been removed for the vast majority of Britons.

In total, infections are now around a quarter of what they were at the peak of the last Omicron wave in late March, when an estimated record number of 4.9 million people had Covid.

Last week’s covid numbers returned to levels last seen in early December, when the number of infections was just starting to rise due to the spread of the original Omicron variant.