The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India has reported a slight increase in COVID cases since yesterday. As of February 23, 2022 (8:00 IST), there has been a total of 15,180 new cases reported across India.
Kerala has reported 5,691 at this time. Maharashtra registered 1,080 cases, and Karnataka stands at 767 cases at this time. Today’s number is slightly higher than yesterday’s but below the 100,000 mark that was previously reported.
This is the sixteenth day that the cases have fallen below 100,000. Despite the slight increase in cases, public precaution is still advised. Social distancing, vaccination, and wearing masks is still recommended.
Senior WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove confirmed that they are not seeing any difference in the Omicron subvariant’s severity. Comparing the original BA.1 with the more contagious BA.2 shows that it’s no different.
“So, this is a similar level of severity as it relates to the risk of hospitalization. And this is really important because, in many countries, they’ve had a substantial amount of circulation, both of BA.1 and BA.2,” she said.
Many experts have already conducted their independent studies of the sub-lineage. Although it is widely agreed that it is more contagious than the original sequence, no one confirmed its severity. Many studies commented that its virology is still being observed. Recently, WHO has already released its statement.
With this information, it is safe to say that even if it could infect many people, it is not as deadly as the delta strain. Due to a large number of the population already vaccinated, there has been herd immunity achieved. The virus becomes less deadly to those who are already vaccinated.
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