A 45-year-old woman in Kolkata has been diagnosed with human coronavirus HKU1 on Monday. The woman has been suffering from persistent fever, cough, and cold for the past 15 days. She is presently being treated at a private hospital in South Kolkata and her condition is stable for now.
According to hospital authorities, it is an isolated case and has advised all to take necessary precautions to prevent its spread.
What is human coronavirus HKU1?
Common human coronaviruses, including HKU1, usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses including the common cold. There are different types of human coronaviruses like 229E, NL63, and OC34.
What are the symptoms of HKU1?
The symptoms of HKU1 include:
Runny nose
Sore throat
Headache
Fever
Cough
In severe cases, it could also cause pneumonia or bronchitis as well.
Who is at risk?
People with cardiopulmonary disease, weakened immunity, infants and elderly with comorbidities are at risk.
How to prevent it?
The steps adopted during the Covid-19 would come in handy in tackling HKU1 as well.
1. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
2. avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands
3. avoid close contact with people who are sick
4. stay home while you are sick
5. avoid close contact with others
6. cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing
A NEWLY discovered bat coronavirus found in China has raised pandemic fears, experts warn.
Named HKU5-CoV-2, the virus was identified by scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been at the centre of the theory that Covid-19 leaked from a lab.
Research published in Cell journal revealed the bug can enter cells using human ACE2 – a receptor that Covid-19 also attaches to before replicating and causing illness.
This means HKU5-CoV-2 can jump straight from bats to humans without another animal in between.
This suggests a higher potential for zoonotic spillover – when a disease spreads from animal to human.
If there is no ‘intermediate ‘middle animal’, it becomes harder to predict and prevent spillover events through interactions such as wildlife trading or hunting.
Despite both being coronaviruses, they come from separate branches of the family tree.
HKU5-CoV-2 belongs to the merbecovirus lineage, making it a cousin of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), also called camel flu.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), camel flu is less infectious than Covid, but it is more deadly, killing a third of known patients.
“There is the potential for this new virus to spillover to human, like previous coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr Gary R McLean, a research fellow at the Imperial College London, who was not involved in the study.
“Interestingly, this newly discovered virus lineage (HKU5-CoV-2), despite evolving in bats, can effectively use human entry receptor protein ACE2 for infection of human cells and tissues.”
Prof Gary added that, so far, there is no “evidence” that HKU5-CoV-2 can infect people – the paper is based on tests in a laboratory, showing the bugs “potential”.
“Hopefully the Chinese authorities now have good surveillance systems in place and the laboratories work to rigid safety standards that minimise the risk of spillover occurring,” he said.
The Chinese researchers – led by “batwoman” Shi Zheng-Li – also said that HKU5-CoV-2 does not appear to be as good at entering the ACE2 receptor as Covid-19 is.
Prof Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology, from the University of Reading, said we shouldn’t get “too hung up” on how the virus spreads.
“The finding of another bat coronavirus that gains entry human and animal cells by unlocking them in the same way as Covid-19 is naturally of concern and will worry people, but it shouldn’t be all that surprising,” he said.
“This way of accessing cells is probably far more common than we realise, and the more scientists look for these things, the more examples they’re likely to find.
“This is just one part of the way the virus interacts with our bodies; things are much more complicated.”
What will trigger the next pandemic?
Although the new research contains some pandemic-associated trigger works, Prof Paul Hunter, an expert in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said we shouldn’t worry too much – at least not yet.
“We do need to remain vigilant about all coronaviruses,” he said.
“At some point a coronavirus will trigger another pandemic, maybe not in the next few decades.
“When that does happen will it be HKU5-CoV-2? Again probably not but it may be.”
The WHO has previously listed MERS and Covid as two of several diseases – alongside the mysterious disease X – that could spark a pandemic, but for which there is no specific treatment or vaccine.
Scientists in China have reported that they have identified a new coronavirus—HKU5-CoV-2—in bats, capable of infecting human cells through a mechanism similar to SARS-CoV-2 that triggered the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago.
The discovery, reported in the journal Cell last week, has since triggered worries across the world.
The latest findings have been reported by a team of virologists at the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, led by Shi Zhengli, who came into prominence as “batwoman” during the pandemic for her work with bat coronaviruses and also faced allegations for her facility’s central role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2.
HKU5-CoV-2, like SARS-CoV-2, belongs to a family beta coronavirus, one of the four broad types of coronaviruses, named so for crown-like protrusion on their surfaces, and can cause respiratory infection in animals and humans.
The newly-identified virus is closely linked with HKU1, first detected in a 71-year-old man in 2004 in Hong Kong who was hospitalised with acute respiratory distress and severe pneumonia, and is one of the seven types of coronaviruses known for infecting humans.
The scientists at the Wuhan Institute have now warned that just like SARS-CoV-2, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it enter human cells via the ACE2 receptor—a protein on the surface of many cells.
As part of the scientific project, the researcher collected the HKU5-CoV-2 strain from a small subset of hundreds of Pipistrellus bats from various Chinese provinces and analysed them for their affinity to human cells.
Their experiment revealed that the virus belongs to a distinct lineage of coronaviruses that includes the one causing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and is distantly related to SARS-CoV-2.
What really triggered the concern was the finding that the HKU5-CoV-2 strain can enter human cells by binding to the ACE2 receptor, mirroring the mechanism used by SARS-CoV-2 to infect cells, replicate, and transmit.
Structural and functional analyses indicate that HKU5-CoV-2 has a better adaptation to human ACE2 than lineage 1 HKU5-CoV. Authentic HKU5-CoV-2 infected human ACE2, expressing cell lines and human respiratory and enteric organoids, researchers noted.
“This study reveals a distinct lineage of HKU5-CoVs in bats that efficiently use human ACE2 and underscores their potential zoonotic risk,” they have cautioned.
Scientists in India said that while the latest discovery should not raise an alarm immediately, there may be a need to maintain surveillance for highly pathogenic zoonotic viruses.
“HKU5-CoV2 is a specific strain of HKU5 needing surveillance as of now with no human-to-human transmission but can bind to ACE 2 receptors,” said a scientist with the epidemiology division at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
‘Face to the faceless threat’
Senior immunologist Dr Dipyaman Ganguly, who is associated with Ashoka University, told ThePrint that the major concern over HKU5-CoV2 comes from the fact that the discovery has demonstrated potential for the receptor binding domain (RBD) of this virus to engage receptors on human cells and thus infect them.
Findings from the lab experiments suggest that HKU5-CoV-2 may also infect a broad variety of mammals, underscoring its potential for cross-species transmission.
While the results indicate that the pathogen has the potential for animal-to-human transmission, it has also been noted that HKU5-CoV-2 has a lower binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and its ability to infect humans on a large scale remains uncertain.
More research is needed to determine if it poses a serious health threat, the scientists have suggested.
“The results confirm existing knowledge that there are zoonotic viruses out there capable of human jump. Also, it gives a face to otherwise faceless threats,” said biologist Dr Anurag Agarwal, who is also dean of the Trivedi School of Biosciences with Ashoka University.
Dr Agarwal, however, reassured that as of now, there is no cause for any new concern beyond a general readiness.
Dr Ganguly pointed out that due to the Covid pandemic, a majority of the human population have neutralising antibodies that can interfere with ACE2 binding by SARS-CoV-2 RBD.
Images have emerged from Chinese hospitals of large crowds overwhelming them (Image: X )
The world is holding its breath as unconfirmed reports suggest a mystery disease is ravaging China leading to overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums – but the nation is trying to downplay fears.
China has long been identified as the source of the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus which went on to spark a global pandemic after the first human patients were discovered in the city of Wuhan in November 2019.
Around the world over seven million people died from Covid and in the UK the latest estimates are 208,000 people lost their lives to the disease.
Now unconfirmed local media reports from China are suggesting a new bug, thought to be connected to the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), is now causing severe and even deadly results.
Usually HMPV is similar to a mild cold, but lines of sick children and adults are now overwhelming the country’s healthcare system and deaths have been reported.
“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season in the northern hemisphere,” said Mao Ning, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.
“The diseases appear to be less severe and spread on a smaller scale compared to the previous year.
“I can assure you the Chinese government cares about the heal of Chinese citizens and foreigners in China.
“It is safe to travel in China.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests flu could be behind the soaring admissions and cases.
But according to Aboluowang News, a US-based news provider covering China, a farmer from Hunan Province said people were dying from the outbreak.
Mr Peng told the news site: “A lot of people have caught colds, and most of them have [illness],’ he said in quotes translated to English. About seven or eight people died this week in this area. Some were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 40s.”
Another person the news site said was a funeral director called Ms Wang, said: “There are long lines for cremation now, today, three VIP furnaces were opened.
“They were all burning and emitting a lot of smoke. It was terrible. If you don’t know about the crematorium, you would think it is selling New Year goods, just like holding a trade fair during the Chinese New Year.”
And unverified images and videos shared on X appear to show large numbers of patients waiting for treatment inside hospitals in China.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month urged China to share more data five years after the outbreak of Covid-19.
The Union Health Ministry on Saturday convened a Joint Monitoring Group Meeting in view of rising cases of respiratory illnesses in China in the past few weeks. In an official release, the Ministry said it was closely monitoring the situation through all available options in China and has also asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide regular updates.
It said the situation in China is not “unusual in view of the ongoing flu season”. The reports also suggest that the cause of the present surge is Influenza virus, RSV and HMPV – the usual pathogens that are expected during the season, the release added.
“The government is keeping a close watch over the situation through all available channels and WHO has also been requested to share timely updates regarding the situation in China,” it said.
“These viruses are already in circulation globally including India,” the release further added.
The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of DGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and experts from WHO, the Disaster Management (DM) Cell, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) Division, and hospitals, including AIIMS, Delhi participated in the meeting.
They have agreed on following points:
A robust surveillance system for Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) for Influenza is already in place in India through both ICMR and IDSP networks and the data from both indicates no unusual surge in ILI & SARI cases.
Physicians from hospitals also confirmed that there is no surge in respiratory illness cases in the last few weeks other than the expected seasonal variation.
ICMR network also tests for other respiratory viruses such as Adenovirus, RSV, HMPV etc. and these pathogens also do not show an unusual increase in the tested samples. As a precautionary measure, the number of laboratories testing for HMPV will be enhanced by ICMR, and ICMR will be monitoring trends of HMPV for the entire year.
Data from the recently conducted preparedness drill across the Country indicated that the Country is well prepared to deal with any increase in respiratory illnesses.
It said the health systems and surveillance networks remain vigilant, ensuring the country is ready to respond promptly to any emerging health challenges.
Images have emerged from Chinese hospitals of large crowds overwhelming them (Image: X )
The world is holding its breath as unconfirmed reports suggest a mystery disease is ravaging China leading to overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums – but the nation is trying to downplay fears.
China has long been identified as the source of the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus which went on to spark a global pandemic after the first human patients were discovered in the city of Wuhan in November 2019.
Around the world over seven million people died from Covid and in the UK the latest estimates are 208,000 people lost their lives to the disease.
Now unconfirmed local media reports from China are suggesting a new bug, thought to be connected to the human metapneumovirus (HMPV), is now causing severe and even deadly results.
Usually HMPV is similar to a mild cold, but lines of sick children and adults are now overwhelming the country’s healthcare system and deaths have been reported.
“Respiratory infections tend to peak during the winter season in the northern hemisphere,” said Mao Ning, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson.
“The diseases appear to be less severe and spread on a smaller scale compared to the previous year.
“I can assure you the Chinese government cares about the heal of Chinese citizens and foreigners in China.
“It is safe to travel in China.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests flu could be behind the soaring admissions and cases.
But according to Aboluowang News, a US-based news provider covering China, a farmer from Hunan Province said people were dying from the outbreak.
Mr Peng told the news site: “A lot of people have caught colds, and most of them have [illness],’ he said in quotes translated to English. About seven or eight people died this week in this area. Some were in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 40s.”
Another person the news site said was a funeral director called Ms Wang, said: “There are long lines for cremation now, today, three VIP furnaces were opened.
“They were all burning and emitting a lot of smoke. It was terrible. If you don’t know about the crematorium, you would think it is selling New Year goods, just like holding a trade fair during the Chinese New Year.”
And unverified images and videos shared on X appear to show large numbers of patients waiting for treatment inside hospitals in China.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last month urged China to share more data five years after the outbreak of Covid-19.
Like Covid-19, HMPV is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.(Representational image)
Videos that have emerged on social media appear to show hospitals in China overwhelmed by the outbreak of human metapneumovirus (HMPV). Social media posts suggest that multiple virus outbreaks in China have left hospitals and cemeteries overcrowded. Along with HMPV, these include influenza A, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Covid-19.
The looming threat of another pandemic, five years after Covid-19 brought life to a standstill, has created panic online. However, it is important to note that no credible report has confirmed these posts.
Chinese health authorities and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have not confirmed the existence of a new pandemic or issued any warnings for people to take caution. Contrary to speculation, the WHO has not declared an emergency.
Viral videos:
Hospitals in China Overwhelmed as Severe “Flu” Outbreak, Including Influenza A and HMPV, Resembling 2020 COVID Surge. pic.twitter.com/GWw9u6JxsX
One undated video appears to show the waiting room of a hospital full of patients. Many people were seen wearing masks in the video, others were seen coughing. The video was shared on X with a caption suggesting that it was filmed in China.
Another post that is going viral on X with 12 million views shows a number of elderly people in a hospital corridor. “Hospitals in China are overwhelmed as outbreaks of “influenza A” and “human metapneumovirus” resemble the COVID-19 surge from three years ago,” the post reads.
⚠️ BREAKING:
Hospitals in China 🇨🇳 Overwhelmed as Severe “Flu” Outbreak, Including Influenza A and HMPV, Resembling 2020 COVID Surge.
Hospitals in China are overwhelmed as outbreaks of “influenza A” and “human metapneumovirus” resemble the COVID-19 surge from three years ago. pic.twitter.com/mPF6XGjQCY
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a virus that usually causes symptoms similar to a cold. Young children, elderly people and those who are immunocompromised are at a higher risk.
This respiratory virus can cause symptoms similar to those of the common cold – such as cough, fever, and nasal congestion – as well as more severe respiratory issues like pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
From meerkats to macaques, social animals tend to live longer, take more time to reach maturity, and have more extended reproductive periods than their more solitary counterparts, according to research from the University of Oxford.
Living in social groups comes with clear tradeoffs. On one hand, social animals can share resources, protect each other from predators, and help raise offspring together. On the other hand, they face increased risks of disease transmission, competition for resources, and social conflicts. Yet despite these challenges, scientists say the benefits of social living appear to outweigh the costs across the animal kingdom.
The study, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, examined 152 animal species across 13 taxonomic classes, from jellyfish to humans, providing the first broad evidence that sociality shapes animal life patterns across diverse species.
Previous research on the relationship between social behavior and animal demographics has typically focused on single species or specific groups like birds or mammals. This new study takes a wider view, examining how social behavior influences life patterns across the entire animal kingdom.
Rather than simply categorizing animals as either social or non-social, the researchers developed a novel spectrum of sociality with five distinct levels. At one end are solitary animals like tigers and cheetahs, which spend most of their time alone except for breeding. In the middle are “gregarious” animals like wildebeest and zebras that form loose groups, and “communal” species like purple martins that share nesting areas. “Colonial” species like some wasps and coral polyps always share living spaces. At the far end of the spectrum are highly social species like elephants, most primates, and honeybees, which form stable, organized groups with complex social structures and cooperative breeding.
This nuanced approach to classifying sociality helped reveal patterns that might otherwise have remained hidden. The study found that more social species not only tend to live longer but also have extended “reproductive windows” – the period during which they can successfully produce offspring. They’re also more likely to reproduce successfully before dying compared to less social species.
Consider the difference between social meerkats and solitary tigers. Meerkats live in cooperative groups where multiple individuals help raise young, take turns watching for predators, and maintain complex social hierarchies. Tigers, in contrast, are largely solitary except when mating or raising cubs. The research suggests that the meerkat’s social structure may contribute to their relatively long lifespan and extended reproductive period compared to similar-sized solitary animals.
However, the study also revealed some surprising findings about population resilience. While more social species showed greater resistance to environmental disturbances, they demonstrated lower ability to take advantage of favorable conditions compared to less social species. This suggests that while social living might provide individual advantages, it doesn’t necessarily help populations adapt quickly to environmental changes.
Interestingly, the research found no clear connection between sociality and senescence – the rate at which animals age or experience reproductive decline. Whether an animal lives in complex social groups or leads a solitary life doesn’t seem to affect how quickly it ages or loses reproductive capability over time.
The findings have particular relevance in our post-COVID era, where humans have experienced firsthand the impacts of social isolation.
“Sociality is a fundamental aspect of many animals. However, we still lack cross-taxonomic evidence of the fitness costs and benefits of being social. Here, by using an unprecedented number of animal species this work has demonstrated that species that are more social (most monkeys, humans, elephants, flamingos, and parrots) display longer life spans and reproductive windows than more solitary species (some fish, reptiles, and some insects),” says lead author Rob Salguero-Gómez, an associate professor with Oxford’s Department of Biology, in a statement.
“In a post-COVID era, where the impacts of isolation have been quite tangible to humans (a highly social species), the research demonstrates that, across a comparative lens, being more social is associated with some tangible benefits.”
Inflammation persisting despite recovery from acute Covid infection is thought to lie at the heart of long Covid.
Here’s what to consider (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Doctors in India are grappling to diagnose and treat unexplained and persistent symptoms of long Covid patients due to limited guidelines, whereas researchers have flagged inadequate studies on the condition.
With the World Health Organization declaring an end to Covid as a global health emergency in May last year, focused efforts are underway around the world to estimate the burden of long Covid among the population.
The condition refers to the set of lingering symptoms affecting varied body parts and persisting well beyond the acute Covid infection period, including cough, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, brain fog and difficulty in focusing. The viral disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
While studies have suggested that about a third of those moderately or severely infected are likely to suffer from long Covid, region-wise though, incidence could vary.
A study by researchers, including those from Harvard Medical School, US, estimated that 31 per cent of the once-infected people in North America, 44 per cent in Europe, and 51 per cent in Asia, have long Covid, which is “challenging the healthcare system, but there are limited guidelines for its treatment”. It was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases in September.
One such study by Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, conducted from May 2022 to March 2023 on 553 patients who had recovered from Covid, found that about 45 per cent had lingering symptoms, persistent fatigue and dry cough being the most common.
“There is limited exploratory research on the long Covid syndrome with scarce data on long-term outcomes,” the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Cureus in May this year.
Understanding the long-term effects of the virus is important for developing management strategies, optimising healthcare delivery, and providing support to recovered Covid patients in the community, they said.
Dr Rajesh Sagar, Professor of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, said, “Looking at the current state of long Covid studies in India, it is too premature to say that we understand the condition well enough to know how to diagnose or treat it.”
Animesh Samanta, assistant professor at School of Natural Sciences in Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida, said, “While studies in India highlight the growing recognition of neurological complications in long Covid patients, more focused research on neuroinflammation is needed.” Doctors, too, have reported a rise in patients complaining of symptoms that they did not have pre-Covid.
“People who never had asthma in the past, post-Covid, with every viral infection, they get a long cough, shortness of breath and wheezing, which require the use of inhalers or nebuliser,” senior consultant Dr Neetu Jain, who runs a post-Covid care clinic at Pushpawati Singhania Hospital and Research Institute, New Delhi, said.
Some reports and social media users have raised concerns over the new COVID variant – but what are official health authorities saying?
File pic: iStock
The new COVID variant XEC has been found by UK health experts as they prepare for winter, when cases tend to increase.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has highlighted a slight increase in hospitalisations amid COVID patients recently, with the admission rate at 4.5 per 100,000 people in the week to 6 October, up from 3.7 a week prior.
It is the fourth weekly rise in a row – and this, mixed with the UKHSA finding some XEC cases – has led to plenty of news coverage about the new variant.
It comes as a number of analysts on social media have tipped XEC to become the dominant strain and fuel a winter wave – but is it more of a threat than others?
The reality is that while the UKHSA is urging people to protect themselves from COVID generally, it has not “sounded the alarm” on XEC.
It has acknowledged that people may be concerned about new variants, adding around one in 10 of new cases it has analysed shows XEC lineage.
“Current information doesn’t suggest we should be more concerned about this variant but we are monitoring this closely,” says Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA.
What we know about XEC
XEC, like many other variants, is a part of the Omicron family.
It was first found in May, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which says it is a so-called recombinant of two other strains – KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 – meaning that genetic information was exchanged between them to form a third strain, XEC.
In its last COVID update on 9 October, the WHO said XEC was one of only two variants that was showing “increasing prevalence globally” between 19 August and 15 September – but it was still only responsible for a small percentage of cases, with KP.3.3 responsible for almost half of the cases worldwide.
In the UK, XEC was identified in 9.35% of COVID cases in samples taken by the UKHSA between 2 September 2024 and 15 September 2024, while 59.35% were identified as KP.3.3.
What are the symptoms of XEC?
No health organisations have listed any symptoms specific to XEC.
It is said to have the same symptoms as other COVID variants, including:
• a high temperature
• a new, continuous cough
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
• shortness of breath
• feeling tired or exhausted
• an aching body
• a headache
• a sore throat
• a blocked or runny nose.
Covid-19 surge: Delta and Omicron variants continue to dominate a fresh wave in Asia with China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea witnessing a surge daily cases. Here’s a round-up of the Covid-19 surge across the world in 10 points
A worker wearing protective gear looks on as people wait to be tested for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a residential compound in Shanghai.(AFP)
The pandemic was a long way off, the World Health Organization warned this week, with several nations across the world witnessing a spike in Covid cases yet again. With some South East Asian nations also seeing a surge, India has been prompted to keep the guards up. China is battling with a rise in daily cases driven by the highly infectious ‘stealth Omicron variant’. The country saw its first deaths since January 2021 this week.
Here’s a round-up of the Covid surge across the world in 10 points:
1. Delta and Omicron variants continue to dominate a fresh wave in Asia with China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea witnessing a surge in coronavirus infections.
2. China’s national health authorities reported two Covid-19 deaths, the first recorded rise in death toll since January 2021, as the country battles a surge, reports said. China reported only two Covid deaths for all of 2021, the last of those on Jan 25.
3. Singapore on Saturday reported 10,244 new cases, taking the total tally to 1,007,158, according to news agency ANI. Three deaths were also reported on Saturday, bringing the overall count to 1,194.
Workers wearing protective gear are pictured outside a closed off and locked down area after the detection of new cases of Covid-19 in the Huangpu district of Shanghai. (AFP)
After many weeks of downfall, the Covid graph is plateauing again across countries including China, Korea and Hong Kong. While 30 million people are forced under lockdown in China and morgues running out of space in Hong Kong, the pandemic doesn’t appear to be heading towards its end.
Israel has recorded two cases of a new variant, which is a combination of two sub-variants of the Omicron version of the Covid-19. A new wave of infections from the Omicron is moving towards the east of Europe as cases have more than doubled in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, according to WHO.
Amid the new surge and concern over the new strain, News18 looks at the surge, the WHO’s response and whether a second booster would curb the new wave:
Omicron Peak in South Korea
South Korea reported a record of more than 600,000 coronavirus cases Thursday, with authorities saying the country was near the peak of an Omicron-fuelled infection wave.
According to WHO data, South Korea leads the world in newly reported cases in the last seven days with 2,417,174 infections, followed by Vietnam with 1,776,045.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting in the wake of a humongous rise in the Covid-19 cases in China and South East Asia. Official sources told News18 that Mandaviya asked for a high level of alertness, aggressive genome sequencing and intensified surveillance. The meeting was attended by top health officials, including the health secretary, pharma secretary and the principal scientific adviser to the Government of India, sources added.
People queue up to be tested as a measure against the Covid-19 next to a compound in Hongkou district, in Shanghai on March 16, 2022. (AFP)
The meeting comes as China is seeing a comeback of Covid-19 cases led by an Omicron-led outbreak with the country on Wednesday reporting 3,290 fresh infections. China also huddled to free up hospital beds as the highly transmissible Omicron variant is posing a stern challenge to its zero-Covid strategy, resulting in the 17.5 million residents of the southern tech hub of Shenzhen being locked down and other cities also under tight restrictions.
Meanwhile, mortuaries in Hong Kong are overflowing with Covid victims as the country is reeling under a deadly outbreak led by the Omicron variant.
A surge in coronavirus infections in Western Europe has experts and health authorities on alert for another wave of the pandemic in the United States, even as most of the country has done away with restrictions after a sharp decline in cases.
Infectious-disease experts are closely watching the subvariant of omicron known as BA.2, which appears to be more transmissible than the original strain, BA.1, and is fueling the outbreak overseas.
What to know about BA.2, a new version of the omicron variant
Germany, a nation of 83 million people, saw more than 250,000 new cases and 249 deaths Friday, when Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called the nation’s situation “critical.” The country is allowing most coronavirus restrictions to end Sunday, despite the increase. Britain had a seven-day average of 65,894 cases and 79 deaths as of Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center. The Netherlands, home to fewer than 18 million people, was averaging more than 60,000 cases the same day.
In all, about a dozen nations are seeing spikes in coronavirus infections caused by BA.2, a cousin of the BA.1 form of the virus that tore through the United States over the past three months.
In the past two years, a widespread outbreak like the one now being seen in Europe has been followed by a similar surge in the United States some weeks later. Many, but not all, experts interviewed for this story predicted that is likely to happen. China and Hong Kong, on the other hand, are experiencing rapid and severe outbreaks, but the strict “zero covid” policies they have enforced make them less similar to the United States than Western Europe.
China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new cases more than doubling from a day earlier to hit a two-year high, raising concerns about the rising economic costs of its tough measures to contain the disease.
Residents wearing face masks line up at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site during a mass testing for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chaoyang district of Beijing, China March 14, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
A total of 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported on Monday across more than a dozen provinces and municipalities, up from 1,337 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.
Most of the new cases were in the northeastern province of Jilin.
Though China’s caseload is still tiny by global standards, health experts said the increase in daily infections over the next few weeks would be key to determine whether its “dynamic zero-COVID” approach, of containing each outbreak quickly as it arises, remains effective against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
Makers of everything from flash drives to glass for Apple’s iPhone screens are warning of shipment delays as they comply with China’s curbs against the disease, putting further strain on global supply chains.
The steep increase has fuelled concern over China’s growth prospects, helping to dent market sentiment, with its stocks closing at 21-month lows on Tuesday and oil prices sliding to a two-week low.
A COVID-19 forecasting system run by Lanzhou University in China’s northwest predicted the current round of infections will eventually be brought under control in early April after an accumulated total of about 35,000 cases.
The northeastern province of Jilin was worst hit, accounting for more than 3,000 cases, according to the National Health Commission.
China reported 5,280 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day’s tally and the highest daily count since the start of the pandemic.
The northeastern province of Jilin was worst hit, accounting for more than 3,000 cases, according to the National Health Commission.
Since the coronavirus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019, China had successfully suppressed large-scale outbreaks through its strict “zero-Covid” strategy, which involved hard lockdowns that confined huge sections of the population to their homes.
But Tuesday was the sixth day in a row that more than 1,000 new cases were recorded in the world’s second-biggest economy.
At least 11 cities and counties nationwide have been locked down because of the latest surge, including the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, home to 17 million people.
The new decision will mean that, while Corbevax will be offered to the younger adolescents, those in the 15-17-year age group will continue to get Covaxin.
More than two months after opening COVID-19 vaccination for the 15-17-year age group in the country, the Centre has now announced plans to expand the programme further to include the 12-14-year age group, beginning March 16. The estimated population of this age group in India is 7.11 crore, said government sources.
The younger adolescents will be offered Corbevax by Hyderabad based Biological E, a receptor binding domain protein sub unit vaccine, developed in collaboration with the USA’s Baylor College.
This vaccine, to be administered in two doses given 28 days apart, was granted the emergency use authorization by the Drug Controller General of India for use in 12-plus population groups in December last year.
The health ministry said that the decision has been taken following “due deliberations with scientific bodies”.
This means that those born in 2008-2010 will now also be eligible for shots against COVID-19.
Importantly, the government has also decided that the condition of co-morbidity for COVID-19 precaution dose for population over 60 years of age will now be removed from March 16.
In other words, the entire population above 60 years of age will be eligible for COVID-19 booster doses.
As of now, a little over 9 crore shots against coronavirus have been administered in the 15-17-year age group while more than 2 crore jabs have been given as booster doses to eligible beneficiaries.
Only Covaxin, the COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech, is permitted for the 15-17-year age group, whose population is estimated at 7.4 crore.
Beginning January 10, 2022, healthcare and frontline workers apart from those above 60 years with underlying diseases were eligible for precaution doses, provided that they had completed 9 months since their second dose.
New Delhi: As India’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the Indian Council of Medical Research has released an advisory on “Purposive Testing Strategy”, suggesting that some individuals need not be tested for infection. The guidelines come even as India’s daily COVID-19 tally hovered near the 1.8 lakh mark on Monday morning. The ICMR document makes no mention of contact tracing norms.
According to the newly released advisory, asymptomatic individuals, patients being discharged from a COVID-19 facility as per revised discharge policy as well as those discharged in line with home isolation guidelines need not be tested. Contacts of confirmed cases of COVID-19 need not be tested unless identified as high risk based on age or comorbidities, the ICMR said.
Symptomatic patients and at-risk contacts of COVID-19 patients (senior citizens and comorbid individuals) will need to get tested.
While individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel do not need to be tested, the ICMR has said that international travellers will need to get tested. International travellers arriving at Indian airports and ports of entry as per laid down guidelines must also get tested.
