Experts not worried about new rapidly spreading variant of Covid-19
A new Covid variant has hit Australia in time for the holidays, but experts say it’s not like the others.
Health
Don't miss out on the headlines from Health. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A new strain of Covid-19 has his Australia, but based on early evidence experts aren’t yet too worried about its impact.
The new XBB variant first emerged in Singapore, and it’s transmission, while currently at low levels, has now reached NSW and Victoria.
Within a week, the XBB strain made up to half of Singapore’s Covid cases.
A statement from NSW Health said the BA 4 and BA5 Omicron strains were still most common, but their dominance was on the decline.
"We will be closely monitoring the emergence of variants and other international and local data over the next seven to 14 days to assess growth potential of the new variants in the context of the NSW population immunity profile," NSW Health said.
The new vaccine-resistant strain is also resistant to antibodies built up from previous infections.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said they don’t believe the new variant warrants further public health concern as it doesn’t “diverge sufficiently from other Omicron lineages.”
Latest update from Dr @mvankerkhove on Omicron sub-lineages XBB and BQ.1 ⬇ï¸
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) October 26, 2022
In order to track #COVID19 virus evolution and make the right assessment and policies, we need sustained surveillance of the virus - well planned and organised testing and sequencing across the ðŸŒ. pic.twitter.com/RjCQihOl3t
The XBB variant has been detected in 35 countries but hasn’t yet been associated with any major increase in now infections.
Infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon said there was no evidence the new strain was “more virulent, as judged by hospitalisations and deaths”.
Despite experts saying not to worry, the early evidence suggests the XBB strain has a higher re-infection risk, especially to those infected before the Omicron variant became dominant.
XBB's potential to drive new infection waves might depend on both the size and timing of earlier Omicron waves and COVID-19 vaccine coverage.
Across the country, there were more than 31,000 active cases of Covid in the week leading up to October 25.
Originally published as Experts not worried about new rapidly spreading variant of Covid-19
Heartbroken mum’s own words: ‘I lost my son to this fitness trend’
Mia Bannister’s son Ollie was just 14-years-old when he lost his life amid a battle that began as an effort to achieve perfection.
School boys’ new ‘obsession’ takes dark turn as influencers cash in
A grieving mother says other parents need to take note of the warning signs of a risky new “health” trend that social media is pushing on young boys.
Woman’s alleged horror act towards baby
Police are investigating a high-profile woman after it was claimed she was drugging her infant daughter while documenting the girl’s declining health on social media.
‘Censor:’ Senator defiant over abortion bill
A Nationals senator has accused the Greens of trying to “censor and silence debate” following its calls to pull his controversial abortion bill.
Urgent safety warning for kids’ medicine
Australia’s medicines watchdog says parents should immediately stop giving a popular medicine to kids under the age of six, warning of potential ‘psychiatric’ side effects.
Massive development for STI testing
In an effort to reduce the stigma and prevalence of STIs like chlamydia and gonorrhoea, the TGA has approved the first-ever at-home testing kit specifically for women.