Omicron variant BA.2.75 has been detected in India, UK, US, Australia, Germany, and Canada
is also closely monitoring the new variant, although its chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said there weren’t yet enough samples to assess its severity.
“It’s not so much the exact mutations, more the number/combination,” said Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, who was the first to identify Omicron as a potential concern back in November 2021. “It’s hard to predict the effect of that many mutations appearing together – it gives the virus a bit of a ‘wildcard’ property where the sum of the parts could be worse than the parts individually.
Even if it doesn’t take off in other countries, its growth in India suggests it is likely to be an issue there, at the very least, Peacock added. “It’s clearly growing pretty well in India, but India hasn’t got much BA.5, and it is still very unclear how well it fares against [that].”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australia live news: fourth Covid shots available amid Omicron surge; NSW floods victims return homeFollow the day’s news live
Read more »
Victorian COVID hospital admissions soar as Omicron sub-variants spreadVictoria's hospital admissions have risen by almost 80 per cent over the past three weeks, as experts say authorities have pursued the wrong COVID strategies.
Read more »
Hands-off approach continues as Qld COVID-19 hospitalisations climbQueensland’s COVID-19 hospitalisations are still climbing as the third omicron wave makes itself felt, but authorities are staying the course on not introducing mask or vaccine mandates.
Read more »
New COVID-19 jab rules to affect millions of AustraliansAn additional 7.5 million Australians are eligible for the fourth COVID-19 jab from today, sparking a surge in demand.
Read more »
New COVID-19 jab rules to affect millions of AustraliansAn additional 7.5 million Australians are eligible for the fourth COVID-19 jab from today, sparking a surge in demand.
Read more »
30% spike in station skips across rail network amid floods, COVIDThe percentage of Queensland Rail’s Citytrain services meeting on-time running figures has also dropped below target levels since January, department data shows.
Read more »