"omicron"

Wellington: The Omicron subvariant BA.2.75 has been detected in New Zealand for the first time as the country recorded 9,629 new community cases of COVID-19 and 24 more deaths, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. Analysis of whole-genome sequencing has confirmed two cases in New Zealand with BA.2.75. Before testing positive for COVID-19, both […]

New Delhi: About 10 States in India have detected a new sub-variant of Omicron BA.2.75, which may be “alarming” in nature, according to an Israeli expert on Sunday. However, the Indian Health Ministry is yet to officially confirm the detection of the sub-variant in the country. In a series of Tweets, Dr. Shay Fleishon, with […]

London: Eight out of 10 antibody therapy available for treatment of Covid-19 patients do not inhibit the new and emerging sub-variants of Omicron such as BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. A team of researchers, including those from the German Primate Center (DPZ)-Leibniz Institute for Primate Research […]

Hyderabad: The ongoing surge of Covid infections in multiple States, including Telangana, which is being attributed to BA4 and BA5 variants of Omicron, is merely a ripple and not a wave, the developers of the SUTRA mathematical model for forecasting pandemics on Thursday said. The mathematicians and researchers from IIT-Kanpur and IIT Hyderabad, who developed […]

Hyderabad: In the wake of a surge in Covid infections driven by BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants, the Telangana government on Monday urged union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya to allow administration of booster or precautionary doses to all eligible individuals above 18 years at government hospitals. At present, Telangana has a stock of nearly […]

Hyderabad: The ongoing surge of Covid-19 infections — widely believed to be driven by the BA4 and BA5 variants of Omicron — in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana, could peak sometime in July, a preliminary assessment by the SUTRA mathematical model for forecasting pandemics has revealed. For the past one week, the South […]

Hyderabad: The new variants of Omicron — BA4 and BA5 — have started to drive up the daily Covid infections in several States, including Telangana, raising fears of a possible fourth Covid wave. Senior health officials from Telangana are keeping a close watch on the possibility of the fourth wave, even as many are pointing […]

Chennai: As many as 12 people tested positive for the new sub variants of COVID BA.4 and BA.5 in Tamil Nadu, as per state Health Minister M Subramanian. The Minister informed that 300 samples were sent to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad of which 12 tested positive for the sub variants. “Today […]

Hyderabad: The two-new variants of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, which were declared as variants of concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), are showing signs of steadily becoming the dominant-circulating Coronavirus in months to come in Telangana and other parts of the country. In the latest […]

Hyderabad: The rise of Covid infections, causing the fifth wave in South Africa due to two new lineages of Omicron-BA 4 and BA 5, has triggered fears among geneticists and scientists here on the potential of new variants to create a similar surge of infections in Telangana and elsewhere in the country. The swift rise […]

New York: Infection from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is not mild as generally touted, rather is as deadly as Delta, Alpha and other strains that claimed thousands of lives globally, finds a study. Omicron was first detected by South African scientists in November last year. It has previously been reported as more transmissible by a […]

Hyderabad: The BA.4 and BA.5. the two new lineages of Omicron that are sweeping across South Africa, do not pose a threat or have the potential to become a reason to worry in Telangana and other parts of the country, geneticists and experts said. The BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of Omicron do have distinct growth […]

New York: Patients hospitalised with the Omicron or Delta variants of Covid-19 required similar levels of respiratory support and intensive care, according to a new study. Even though Omicron has generally been touted as mild, the findings led by Johns Hopkins University researchers indicate that infections with the highly contagious variant should not be underestimated. […]

Hyderabad: The steady rise in Covid infections in Delhi and other States and the rapid rate at which new Omicron variants are being reported by geneticists is a clear sign that the Covid pandemic is not over yet. Senior biologists and public health specialists here cautioned people that this is not the time to remove […]

Hyderabad: The surge in Covid infections in Delhi and neighbouring States should not become a cause of panic among people in Telangana, researchers and biologists said, pointing out that there was no evidence of a new virulent Omicron variant behind the rise in Covid infections in those States. The slight surge in Covid infections in […]

New York: Because of their small and relatively collapsible airways, young children with Omicron are more vulnerable to upper airway infection such as croup, which if severe can lead to cardiac arrest, finds a study. Croup is a type of respiratory illness, known medically as laryngotracheitis, in babies and young children. It is characterised by […]

Hyderabad: The BA2 variant of the SARS-CoV-2, which is behind the recent surge of Covid infections in China, South Korea, Europe and US, has continued to remain the dominant strain in Telangana and in the country, based on the data from Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG). The genome sequencing of Covid samples by INSACOG, which […]

Hyderabad: Different hybrid recombinants and mutations of the Omicron variant have continued to get reported by genetic researchers from across India. The latest to be reported is BA. 2 Omicron subvariant with L452R mutation in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Overall, between January and March, about 57 cases of L452R Omicron variant, which was first […]

New Delhi: Amid a global rise in Covid cases driven by BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, India is also seeing a slow yet steady rise in the number of infections in several states. This comes as two cases of the new XE variant – a mutant hybrid of Omicron sub-variants BA.1 and BA.2 – have been […]

Hyderabad: The hybrid recombinant strains of SARS-CoV-2 including XE, which was reported in Mumbai on Wednesday, XD and XF, are unlikely to create much impact in Telangana, public health officials, geneticists and experts tracking new Covid variants said. The XE is a hybrid lineage of BA.1 and BA.2 variants that were sequenced and verified by […]