New Omicron Variant

On the 10th March, at the NSW Budget Estimates for Health, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that COVID cases could “more than double” in six weeks the rise of BA.2 Omicron sub-lineage.

It turns out that Omicron has 50 mutations, including BA.2. Early reports suggest BA.2 has an increased growth rate compared to Omicron: preliminary data from Denmark suggests BA.2 may be 1.5 times more transmissible than Omicron. Ten countries have already seen a predominance of BA.2, including China, Denmark, and India.

Minister Hazzard went on to explain the situation in NSW, “What we are seeing is that the numbers [of COVID cases] are increasing quite dramatically because it would appear that the BA.2 version of Omicron is actually more transmissible. Omicron, we knew, when it came after Delta, was certainly a lot more transmissible than Delta. That was BA.1. We are now seeing what we believe to be BA.2.

“We have some preliminary data done by the University of New South Wales, who were the source of the information that I gave back in, I think, December when I indicated … that we would be seeing 25,000 cases a day towards the middle to end of January. The same team has put together some work now. It is very preliminary, and we need to be doing a lot more digging before we give any definitive positions.

“But we are concerned at this point that BA.2 is amongst us and overtaking BA.1. One of my concerns … is that we are still sitting way off the booster doses that we need through the community. It would appear the community has largely switched off and decided that we are not facing a major problem with the virus. We still are. Basically, we have got 95 per cent of people that went out and had doses one and two, but only about 50 per cent, give or take, have actually had the booster. What we need to realise is that the preliminary evidence now is so concerning that people need to get out and get the booster fast, in my view” he said.

On the 11th March ACT Health announced that BA.2 was expected to dominate Canberra's COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks. The number of COVID-19 infections is rising, but authorities suggested the rise could also be attributed to more movement of people in the community and more household contacts being tested as a result of higher rates of infections in children.

So how should we respond? It makes sense to continue with personal protective measures. Get the COVID booster, wear face masks, and use hand sanitizer, and stay home and get tested if you are feeling at all unwell.

• Topics:

• Health & Wellbeing
• Covid-19