Thread by @FLAHAULT

1/9 - “European countries are experiencing a surge in #COVID19 hospital admissions driven by sub-variants of the highly infectious Omicron strain, threatening a fresh global wave of the disease as immunity levels wane and pandemic restrictions are lifted.”
ft.com/content/8c8715…

2/9 - “Admissions have risen in several countries (FR,UK). The #BA5 sub-variant of #Omicron now accounts for >80% of new infections in PT. In DE,where admissions have been rising for over a week, the share of #COVID19 infections ascribed to #BA5 doubled at the end of last month.”

3/9 - “Experts warn that the widespread scaling back of testing and surv may be compromising the ability of countries to spot new mutations and react quickly. They fear this could lead to waves later in the year that will put pressure on health syst and prove harder to contain.”

4/9 - “Kramarz, head of surveillance at the ECDC, said #Omicron sub-variants #BA4 and #BA5 had an element of “immune escape” — meaning that neither previous infections nor vaccines provide such strong protection — which was driving them to overtake previously dominant variants.”

5/9 - “Kramarz said #BA4 and #BA5 did not appear to lead to a more severe illness, but those who had already had the virus are being infected again. Triple-jabbed people were also falling sick, although vaccines continue to provide strong protection against the worst outcomes.”

6/9 - “The potential power of one #Omicron sub-variant, #BA5, is clearest in Portugal, where there has been a large surge in hospital admissions over the past month, rising almost as high as its original #Omicron wave in January and driving higher excess mortality.”

7/9 - “But scientists are still determining the precise cause of the uptick in admissions in parts of Europe. “It’s very hard to distinguish whether it is more transmissible or whether it is escaping waning immunity from vaccines.”

8/9 - “The new sub-variants are also making headway in the US, where data published by the CDC show that combined they made up more than 20% of all cases in the week to June 11. The US’s #BA2 variant wave makes it difficult to disentangle their impact on the overall trend.”

9/9 - “Despite such concerns about reduced protection, governments do not seem to be considering reintroducing restrictions. […] Experts have warned against complacency.”