WHO monitoring new Covid-19 sub-variant Arcturus, which is driving surge of cases in India - The Straits Times

Some cases of Arcturus have been reported among infants, said The Telegraph.

“We need to remain alert, but there is no need to worry,” said Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in the report.

“Currently, the sub-variant of Omicron which is circulating in the country hasn’t led to an increase in the rate of hospitalisation,” he added.

The sub-variant, which is reportedly one of more than 600 Omicron sub-variants, was first detected in January. It has been detected in more than 20 countries, including Singapore, the United States, Britain and Australia.

In the last week of March in Singapore, 28,410 Covid-19 cases were recorded. This is almost double the previous week’s figure of 14,467. It is not known how many of these cases are due to the new sub-variant.

The Ministry of Health told CNA that the current Covid-19 infection wave is driven by a mix of XBB sub-variants, including XBB.1.5, XBB.1.9 and XBB.1.16.

However, it added that there is currently no evidence of increased severity in the cases.

At a press conference on March 29, WHO Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said: “(Arcturus) has been in circulation for a few months. We haven’t seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that’s why we have monitoring systems in place.”

The variant has high infectivity and pathogenicity, Dr Van Kerkhove noted.

Although Arcturus has been found in other countries, most cases were from India, where it had overtaken other variants, she added.

With the emergence of the new sub-variant, some experts said that Covid-19 remains a concern.

Virologist Lawrence Young from the University of Warwick told The Independent that the rise of the new variant in India is a sign that “we’re not yet out of the woods”.

“We have to keep an eye on it,” Professor Young said.

“When a new variant arises you have to find out if it’s more infectious, more disease-causing, is it more pathogenic? And what’s going to happen in terms of immune protection.”

“These kinds of things highlight the importance of genomic surveillance, but a lot of countries including our own have let our guard down a bit, and we can’t be sure what variants are around and what level of infection they’re causing until we see a significant outbreak.”

In 2021, India was devastated by the Delta wave, with a total of 4.7 million excess deaths according to estimates by the WHO.

The country’s health system was overwhelmed by a surge of cases triggered by the Delta Covid-19 variant, with some hospitals even running out of oxygen.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiiQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL2FzaWEvc291dGgtYXNpYS93aG8tbW9uaXRvcmluZy1uZXctY292aWQtMTktc3VidmFyaWFudC1hcmN0dXJ1cy13aGljaC1pcy1kcml2aW5nLW5ldy1zdXJnZS1vZi1jYXNlcy1pbi1pbmRpYdIBAA?oc=5

2023-04-13 11:54:08Z
1907717048