Omicron seems to be the buzzword you see and hear everywhere you go.
And for good reason, after all, it’s said that this new COVID-19 variant might be worse than the Delta variant.
Currently, not much is known about the new variant and countries all around the world are tightening restrictions once again to buy time.
This includes Singapore, which introduced measures as early as 29 Nov 2021.
Well, it seems that more has been found out and it isn’t great.
Preliminary Study Suggests That Omicron is 3 Times More Likely to Cause Reinfections Than Delta
According to a preliminary study conducted by South African scientists, the Omicron variant is 3 times more likely to cause reinfections compared to the Delta and Beta strains.
The findings of the paper, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed, was based on data collected by the country.
It was found that, out of 2.8 million individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 until 27 Nov, there are 35,670 suspected reinfection cases.
In the study, cases are considered reinfection if they tested positive within 90 days.
What About Vaccine-Induced Immunity?
However, that doesn’t mean you can conclude that the omicron variant evades vaccine-induced immunity.
Dr Juliet Pulliam, director of the South African DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis pointed out that they do not have information on the individuals’ vaccination status.
The researchers involved in this study is planning to study that next.
Another important thing to find out, Dr Pulliam said, is how severe the disease will be associated with the omicron variant.
In short, whether it’s more deadly or less when an individual is infected with the variant.
Less Likely To Be A ‘False Alarm’
Dr Michael Head, a scientist at the University of Southampton, said that the research is “high quality”.
According to him, the analysis is showing that the omicron variant has the ability to evade immunity provided by past infections.
“Might this all still be a ‘false alarm’? That is looking less and less likely.”
It was previously stated that vaccine-induced immunity should still protect against severe disease.
S’pore Has Detected 2 Patients Who Tested Preliminarily Positive for Omicron Variant
Meanwhile, Singapore has preliminarily tested two individuals positive for the Omicron variant. Both cases were isolated upon arrival in Singapore on 1 December and had not interacted in the community.
They had arrived from Johannesburg on board SQ479.
There is currently no evidence of any community transmission from these cases.
The cases are currently recovering in isolation wards at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Both are fully vaccinated and have mild symptoms of cough and scratchy throat.
You can read more about that here.
Read Also:
- S’pore Has Detected 2 Patients Who Tested Preliminarily Positive for Omicron Variant
- WHO Warns That the World Should be Prepared as Omicron Will be a High Global Risk
- Karen-ified Woman in MRT Scolds Mum As Baby Isn’t Wearing a Mask
Feature Image: Andrii Vodolazhskyi / Shutterstock.com