<
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/why-this-covid19-variant-is-landing-patients-in-hospital-in-nsw-qld-and-victoria/news-story/4806a818aed8de7d439c84765b8a938d>
"A rapidly increasing number of Australians are ending up in hospital due to
Covid-19 with several highly-contagious sub variants spreading across the
country.
Two new Covid variants swept New South Wales over the holiday period and are
being credited with a new wave of illness.
BA2.86, known as Pirola, is a mutation on the Omicron BA. 2 subvariant and is
the ancestor of the current dominant JN. 1; which is responsible for more than
three in five Covid cases as of January 6.
Both strains have around 60 more spike mutations than the original coronavirus
and over 30 more than other Omicron variants, such as BA. 2 and XBB. 1.5.
Pirola can infect cells in the lower lungs and can enter cell membranes more
efficiently than other versions of Omicron, leading to increased
hospitalisations, a study by Ohio State University found.
NSW, Victoria and Queensland have all been hit by a fresh wave of infections
and hospitalisations.
Around 1400 people are reporting to the state’s emergency departments with the
virus and 400 being admitted to hospital each week, according to NSW Health’s
Head of Health Protection James McAnulty.
“That’s just people presenting to hospital, so we know there are many more
people out there who, fortunately, are not sick enough to require
hospitalisation or a visit to the emergency department,” Dr McAnulty said.
It’s a similar situation in Victoria, where 377 people, on average, are being
hospitalised with Covid each week, up from 326 in early December.
Meanwhile hundreds of Queenslanders are in hospital with Covid-19 as the wave
which began in October has unexpectedly persisted."
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: January 11, 2023
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-96291169
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
