UKHSA will continue to monitor the situation closely as a matter of routine, as we do all data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants both in the UK and internationally. Overall numbers of ICU admissions have decreased over time, but where data was available admissions with Omicron have increased from 9% to more than 50% in the most recent week. Omicron has branched into three lineages, explains Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York: BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3. Our data shows that getting the booster vaccine is more effective against this variant than 2 doses alone. Of symptomatic cases, loss of smell and taste was found to be more common in people who tested positive for Delta than those who had Omicron. BA.2 has an increased growth rate compared to BA.1 in all regions of England where there are enough cases to assess it. For some more vulnerable a third dose is available. Early data shows that young children who are hospitalised experience mild illness and are discharged after short stays in hospital. The full document and underlying data is available on GOV.UK. BA.1 accounts for most of the cases. The original Delta variant remains overwhelmingly dominant in the UK, making up approximately 99.8% of all cases. As of 18 July 2022, there were 24 cases of BA.2.75 in the UK. Well be undertaking further analysis to investigate the small rise in the number of children admitted to hospital but currently coronavirus (COVID-19) poses a very low health risk to children and infants. Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid, said: We are learning to live with this virus and thanks to our world-leading surveillance system we can rapidly detect and carefully monitor any genetic changes to COVID-19. Approximately half of PCR tests in the UK are able to detect SGTF. The most common omicron-related symptoms are: Cough. Experts say BA.2 symptoms don't seem to be all that distinct from original Omicron (BA.1) or the immediately preceding Delta variant. According to Boden-Albala said, those symptoms may include the following: Fever Chills Fatigue Cough Body aches Shortness of breath Sore throat Additionally, some people may report upper. The variant technical briefing also includes updated analysis on Omicron BA.2, currently the dominant variant in the UK. As always, the booster vaccine remains the best protection against infection. Vaccine efficacy analysis continues to show lower effectiveness for symptomatic Omicron disease. After 2 doses, vaccine effectiveness was 9% and 13% respectively for BA.1 and BA.2, after 25+ weeks. Work is underway to identify any links to travel. Continue to exercise caution. The Delta variant sub-lineage known as Delta AY.4.2 was designated a variant under investigation (VUI) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on 20 October 2021 and has been given the official name VUI-21OCT-01. It is therefore vital that people continue to exercise caution in order to limit the transmission of the virus. The most affected local authorities are West Northamptonshire, where there are 49 confirmed cases and 68 SGTF, and Manchester, where there are 7 confirmed cases and 61 SGTF. New studies are being undertaken to assess this further. The analysis looked at 581 people with confirmed Omicron. Current guidance from NHS England is that the main symptoms of Covid continue to be a high temperature, a new continuous cough, a loss or change to your sense. The UKHSAs COVID-19 variant technical briefing 43, published today, includes epidemiological analysis that shows that Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 now make up more than half of new COVID-19 cases in England, accounting for approximately 22% and 39% of cases, respectively. The earliest of these has a specimen date of 19 January 2022. Overall, data shows significant reductions in neutralisation against several of the newly emergent variants (BA.2.75.2, BA.2.3.20 and BJ.1), compared to BA.2, BA.4 and the dominant BA.5. There were very limited numbers of BA.2 in this study and no inferences can be made regarding BA.2. These people are spread around the country and are a mix of age ranges between 18 to 85 years the majority had received 2 doses of vaccination. They also say that Omicron symptoms are typically mild, and herd immunity is at . This analysis found that the risk of presentation to emergency care or hospital admission with Omicron (testing for symptomatic or asymptomatic infection) was approximately half of that for Delta, while the risk of hospital admission alone with Omicron was approximately one-third of that for Delta. The individuals and their households have been told to self-isolate. So, like the original omicron strain (BA.1), the primary symptoms of a mild BA.2 infection are a cough, fever, fatigue and possible loss of taste or smell. Teams nationally and locally are working at pace to identify and trace all close contacts of every Omicron case. We have seen a rise in hospital admissions in line with community infections but vaccinations are continuing to keep ICU admissions and deaths at low levels. AstraZeneca was the main vaccine used early in the programme in care homes and among those in clinical risk groups. The early observations for 2 doses of AstraZeneca are particularly likely to be unreliable as they are based on small numbers and are likely to reflect an older population and a population with more co-morbidities than those given the Pfizer vaccine. BA.2 is believed to be far more contagious than the earlier Omicron strain, and was blamed for a fresh surge in Denmark. However, it should serve as objective evidence that this pandemic is not over. Follow the latest self-isolation rules if you develop symptoms wear a mask where required to do so, take regular LFD tests and observe good hand hygiene. Both have links to travel to Southern Africa. But it is worth noting that Denmark has seen similar trends in terms of hospital admissions and intensive care as the UK has, suggesting BA.2 does not mark a sea-change in severity. There are no confirmed cases in Northern Ireland. What is the stealth omicron, or BA.2, variant? As of 17 May, 115 cases of BA.4 and 80 cases of BA.5 have been confirmed in England and the latest UKHSA variant technical briefing has been published today. What are the symptoms of BA.2? Thanks to the expertise of scientists at UKHSA and partner organisations, were able to respond quickly to new variations of the virus. UKHSAs new analysis examines 3 recombinants, known as XF, XE, and XD. The first sequences were submitted from the Philippines, and most samples have been uploaded from Denmark (6,411). Thanks to very high levels of vaccine coverage we already have a robust wall of defence against COVID-19 as new variants emerge. Six cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529 have also been identified in Scotland, with 4 cases in the Lanarkshire area and 2 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. There have been recent reports of people who experience symptoms like those of viral meningitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord membranes. UKHSA analysis shows that the risk of hospital admission for an identified case with Omicron is reduced compared to a case of Delta. The symptoms of omicron BA.2.75 are mostly flu-like and may last more than 4-5 days. Currently, no experimental data has been reported about BA.2 and BA.3. Runny or congested nose Feeling fatigued Headache New, continuous cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Muscle or body aches New loss of a sense of taste or smell Sore throat Nausea or vomiting Diarrhoea They advise that if you develop one or more of these symptoms you should take a Covid test as soon as possible. Data and analysis will be released in due course through our regular surveillance reporting. Our exceptional vaccine rollout means the number of people severely affected by COVID-19 is low, and the UKs innovation and research has discovered life-saving treatments for those most at risk from COVID-19. A preliminary assessment by UKHSA did not find a difference in vaccine effectiveness, although it said there was no data yet available on severity. Studies have already shown that this virus travels to different parts of the body, therefore gut-related issues are. This increased to 63% for BA.1 and 70% for BA.2 at 2 weeks following a third vaccine. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified 7 further cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 in England, in addition to the previous 22 confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529. Check benefits and financial support you can get, Find out about the Energy Bills Support Scheme, National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, higher risk of becoming seriously ill from respiratory infections, including COVID-19, this data should be interpreted with caution, This assessment is based on analysis of UK data, data on Omicron cases is published regularly here, Six cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529, Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: variant risk assessments, Investigation of SARS-CoV-2 variants: technical briefings, Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for local government, let fresh air in if meeting others indoors, wear a face covering or a face mask, particularly if you are in crowded and enclosed spaces. For example, there are still a small number of cases of other variants, such as Alpha, in the UK which would also result in S-gene dropout or there is a lower amount of virus present in the sample where S-gene dropout cannot be confirmed. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified 8 further cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 in England, in addition to the previous 5 confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529. It was designated a variant of concern (VOC) on Saturday 27 November. It contains epidemiological data and updated analysis of COVID-19 variants currently circulating in the UK. The sub-variant of Omicron has been detected in 57 countries now, the WHO says. Omicron BA.2 lacks the genetic deletion on the spike protein which produces S-gene target failure (SGTF) in some polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which has been used as a proxy for Omicron cases previously. Whilst there are insufficient data to quantify either vaccine effectiveness or risk of reinfection in the UK exactly, the observed growth, case distribution and early analyses in both South Africa and the UK are consistent with some loss of immune protection against infection. Those are pretty similar to what people experience with a cold or other seasonal viruses. Runny nose/congestion. The total number of confirmed cases in England is now 13. This matches a recent study led by Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), using data from the COVID-19 Infection Survey produced by the latter. What are the most common symptoms of Omicron BA.2? To help us improve GOV.UK, wed like to know more about your visit today. In India, BA.2 is rapidly replacing the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants of Covid, BA.2 was first detected in the Philippines, About half of new cases in Denmark are caused by BA.2, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant. If you develop any symptoms, isolate immediately and get a PCR test. You have rejected additional cookies. Congestion. It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focussed contact tracing. The latest UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) COVID-19 variant technical briefing, published today, includes updated epidemiological analysis which indicates that Omicron BA.5 has, as expected, become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the UK. Since then, several sub-variants of Omicron surfaced, including BA.2, BA.3, BA.4, and BA.5. It is the best defence we have against this highly transmissible new variant. The individuals that have tested positive and their contacts are all isolating. This designation means that data relating to BA.2.75 will now be reported separately from other BA.2 cases. So far, vaccination means that the rise in cases is not translating to a rise in severe illness and deaths. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? Dr Chand said: "So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than Omicron BA.1. However, the preliminary data showed effectiveness against the new variant appears to increase considerably in the early period after a booster dose, providing around 70% to 75% protection against symptomatic infection. Updated analysisshows theadditional incremental benefit from each vaccine exposureincluding for boosters, even in those who have had prior infection. In severe cases, the SpO2 Level may also decrease. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified 75 further cases of COVID-19 with mutations consistent with B.1.1.529 in England, in addition to the previous 29 confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 variant known as B.1.1.529. It is projected that if current trends continue unchanged, the UK will exceed one million infections a day by the end of this month. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. I urge you to come forward as soon as youre eligible to help keep yourself and your loved ones safe. It remains vital that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms isolates and gets aPCRtest immediately. Typical meningitis symptoms include neck stiffness or pain, numbness, tingling, and sensitivity to light. Omicron has a deletion atposition69/70of the spike proteinwhich allows it to be tracked through S gene target failure(SGTF)in some PCR tests. In its early days, the variant caused an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in South Africathey went from 300 a day in mid-November 2021 to 3,000 a day at the end of that month. It is also vital to continue with all the other precautions we have become used to throughout the pandemic keep indoor areas well ventilated, wear a face covering in enclosed spaces, and take a rapid lateral flow (or LFD) test before a situation where you may be at high risk of catching or passing on the virus. Initial data suggests that LFDs are as likely to detect Omicron as other variants including Delta, which has been the dominant variant in the UK from May to December 2021. 1 case has been identified in Wales. Those aged 18 to 39 should wait to be called. As is routine for any new variants under investigation, UKHSAis carrying out laboratory and epidemiological investigations to better understand the properties of this variant. COVID-19 has not gone away, so it is also vitally important that people continue to follow the guidance. Two variants, CH.1.1 and XBB.1.5, appear to have a growth advantage in the UK. The proportion of test results displaying SGTF has been very low in recent months but an increase has been observed in the past week. For the first time, this data includes analysis on vaccine effectiveness 15+ weeks after the booster dose. Dr Meera Chand, UKHSA Director of Clinical an Emerging Infection, said: We continue to monitor the emergence of new variants and give them variant designations if they are sufficiently distinct to warrant separate epidemiological and laboratory assessment. BQ.1 (V-22OCT-01) is a BA.5 sub-lineage which has been designated on the basis of rapid growth. While on one hand, this statement gives a ray of hope that BA.2 sub variant of Omicron which was thought to be severe is mild as the BA.1 subvariant is, but on the other hand with the report of . The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a new variant technical briefing containing an updated Omicron risk assessment, alongside analysis on vaccine efficacy, sub-lineages and symptoms. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has released a new variant technical briefing detailing updated analysis of epidemiological and genomic data relating to SARS-CoV-2 variants currently circulating in the UK, including the XBB.1.5 variant which has been increasing in the US in recent months. Please make sure to wear a mask in line with government guidance, including on public transport and in shops, to help break the chains of transmission and slow the spread of this new variant. While specific symptoms to BA.2 are not yet available, the NHS lists the main symptoms for Covid-19 as: a high temperature a new, continuous cough a. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published the latest Variant Technical Briefing. Its not too late to catch up if youve missed boosters, or even first doses so please take your recommended vaccines. As previously published, data continues to show vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for Omicron remains high. These groups have been prioritised for booster doses since the start of the rollout in September to increase their protection. Please make sure to wear a mask in line with government guidance, including on public transport and in shops, to help break the chains of transmission and slow the spread of this new variant.
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