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Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
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26 Nov, 12 tweets, 8 min read
BREAKING—“Omicron Variant”—The World Health Organization designates the new #B11529 strain a "variant of concern" high priority risks rating and gives it the Greek name #Omicron.
2) How risky is the new #OmicronVariant? It has potentially 500% competitive advantage compared to the old Wuhan strain. That is staggering. Let’s hope the early data is wrong. But I worry it’s not given WHO concern about it 👇
3) this is the best pandemic strategy. @DrMikeRyan

Be fast. Have no regrets. The greatest error is not to move.
4) here is my recent summary thread 🧵 on #B11529 concerns. See below 👇
5) What makes a variant a higher risk “VARIANT OF CONCERN” like #OmicronVariant now is rated? Here is how WHO upgrades:

•Increase in transmissibility or detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology; OR
•Increase in virulence or change in clinical disease presentation; OR …
6) Continued— VOC reason #3

•Decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or available diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics.  

who.int/en/activities/…
7) Does #OmicronVariant #B11529 match those characteristics? It is starting to seem so. See 🧵 below 👇
8) And is #OmicronVariant hard to find among travelers? Yes. And #B11529 seems to carry some degree of vaccine penetration based on these two breakthroughs—albeit their vaccines were ~6 months old. Boosters are critical going forward. See 🧵 below.
9) Key warnings from WHO’s #Omicron VOC announcement bulletin—potential:

📌Increased risk of reinfection
📌Increase across almost all provinces of South Africa 🇿🇦
📌Variant #B11529 may have growth advantage.
10) I’m in touch with WHO leadership / advisors. Will keep folks posted. I also have several major #COVID19 projects finishing soon. Stay tuned 👇
11) How does mutations in #Omicron #B11529 compare with other variants? Easy…. Omicron has a ton!!! Seriously, just look at the side by side comparison.

Data compiled by @firefoxx66

covariants.org/shared-mutatio…
12) And why are #Omicron’s mutations worrisome? Here is a good walkthrough of key mutations and how they are worrisome and potentially more dangerous:

covariants.org/variants/21K

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More from @DrEricDing

Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
28 Nov
BREAKING—13 #Omicron variant cases now confirmed from 61 #COVID19 cases among ~600 passengers on two flights from South Africa to Amsterdam 🇳🇱(that took off and was mid-air when EU travel limits added). Dutch government warns there will likely be more. bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur… Image
2) Overnight, Germany also added a confirmed case (suspected yesterday) along with Italy 🇮🇹, and previously Australia just recently. Austria and Denmark now have probables. bnonews.com/index.php/2021… Image
3) the two Australia 🇦🇺 cases also just came off of Qatar Airways flights from South Africa 🇿🇦 via Doha. The earlier Hong Kong 🇭🇰 cases also were on @qatarairways via Doha. ➡️ I think @DohaAirport needs to do more screenings as well.
Read 5 tweets
Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
28 Nov
NEW—Australia 🇦🇺 confirms its first 2 cases of #Omicron variant in New South Wales (Sydney region) among flight ✈️ passengers returning from South Africa 🇿🇦, aboard a Qatar Airways flight via Doha. All 260 aboard now isolating. 14 days hotel quarantine for those from S Africa. 🧵 Image
2) This adds to the flurry of new / probable #Omicron cases identified in the past 2 days. It’s definitely global now
3) I warned that it was already global outside of SubSaharan Africa when we immediately noticed the Belgium 🇧🇪 case has zero travel to Southern Africa. And it was weeks ago. Millions fly out every week in Africa. It was inevitable if we respond so late.
Read 4 tweets
Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
28 Nov
Lots of misinformation now being floated that #Omicron is “mild”. That’s nonsense — based on out-of-context quote. Don’t fall for it — nobody know that much yet. And hospitalizations are still rising in the hardest hit #B11529 dominant provinces in South Africa 🇿🇦
2) I agree with this a lot - that is we don’t know enough about severity yet. And “clinical observation” is just anecdotal — not systematic— it’s anti epidemiology and anti evidence based. Let’s wait for severity data.
3) scientists are worried. There’s no way to sugar coat it. Let’s hope to contain it as much as we can while we learn more. 👇
Read 5 tweets
Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
27 Nov
BREAKING—🇬🇧PM warns: “The #Omicron spreads very rapidly & can be spread between people double vaccinated. There is very extensive mutation—diverges quite significantly from previous, and as a result, might in part reduce the protection of our vaccines over time”. 👀 #BoosterShots Image
2) “we will require all contacts of those who test positive with a suspected case of Omicron to self-isolate for 10 days regardless of your vaccination status."

cnn.com/world/live-new… Image
3) This follows UK discovery for 2 cases of #Omicron this morning.
Read 7 tweets
Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
27 Nov
BREAKING—Uk 🇬🇧 now reports its first 2 cases of #OmicronVariant, with Africa travel connection. UK now adds Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola to its travel red list.—“If you have returned from there in the last 10 days you must isolate & get PCR tests”.
cnn.com/world/live-new… Image
2) A country being on the “red list” means that UK residents, as well as British and Irish nationals arriving home from that red list point of departure, must undergo a 10-day hotel quarantine at their own expense. 👀
3) there is likely a big cluster of #Omicron cases among travelers on KLM flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg that landed in Amsterdam yesterday.
Read 7 tweets
Eric Feigl-Ding Profile picture
27 Nov
NEW—“Dozens” likely infected onboard 2 flights ✈️ carrying ~600 people from South Africa that landed in Netherlands—Dutch health service estimates up to ~85 cases —so far 15 positive from 110 tested. Nearly 500 results still pending—& pending if #Omicron. reuters.com/world/europe/p…
2) “The Dutch government banned all air travel from southern Africa early on Friday—passengers already en route to the 🇳🇱 would have to undergo testing and quarantine upon arrival.
Passengers from Cape Town & Johannesburg, said they were kept waiting on the tarmac for hours.”
3) Travel restrictions sadly could be too late. The first EU case of #OmicronVariant detected in Belgium — she didn’t even travel to Sub-Saharan Africa! This means the virus has definitely escaped the region un-detected.
Read 8 tweets

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