WHO announces accelerated transmission of Omicron strain in Eastern Europe

The transmission of the virus, in addition to Eastern Europe, is also accelerating in the Balkans, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, the WHO noted.Western Europe sees steady decline in transmission

Transmission of the Omicron BA.5 strain variant in the eastern part of the European Region, which includes RUSSIA , is accelerating. This is stated in the commentary of the WHO European Bureau, RIA Novosti writes.

“The European Region is starting to see a decrease in infections and deaths, but very high levels of transmission of covid-19 due to BA.5 Omicron sublines remain, which is of general concern,” the statement said.

Experts noted that the transmission of the virus is accelerating in the countries of Eastern Europe, as well as in the Balkans, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. However, there has been a steady decline in transmission in the western part of the European Region.

The day before, the HEAD of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that European countries need to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and take protective measures due to the increase in the incidence of COVID-19.

Up-to-date data on CORONAVIRUS in Russia and the world. Infographic Society

According to him, we are talking about an ongoing wave, which is caused by variants of the omicron strain BA.2 and BA.5. “Moreover, each dominant omicron subline demonstrates clear transmission advantages over previously circulating viruses,” Kluge said.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 infection has tripled in the European Region over the past six weeks, the organization notes.

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Back in mid-July, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, said that the proportion of new, more infectious variants of the omicron strain of coronavirus was growing in Russia: then 3.8% of the total number of sequences were assigned to the BA.1 line of the omicron genovariant, to the BA line. 2 - 56.13%, to the lines BA.4/BA.5 - 38.86% to the "delta" genovariant - 1.21%.

However, Popova stressed, they occur in a less severe form than the alpha and delta strains.

According to the classification of the World HEALTH Organization (WHO), variant BA.1 is the first type of "omicron", from which all other forms originated. It was discovered in November 2021 in South Africa and Botswana. BA.2 is a "stealth omicron", it is more contagious than the previous strain, but the mutation did not affect the severity of the disease. BA.4 was identified in April 2022 in Belgium and other countries, it is more contagious. BA.5, like its predecessor, spreads more efficiently among humans and evades the immune response.

The incidence of COVID-19 began to decline in Russia in February and reached its lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic by June. However, in July the incidence began to rise, and by August it had grown tenfold. Over the previous day, for the first time since March, more than 37 thousand people infected with COVID-19 were detected in the country, another 65 people died.