The trend is upwards, but the BA.2 variant of the Omicron will continue to dominate for the foreseeable future. According to the virologist Andreas Bergthaler, this should also change in this country. Internationally, strong growth rates of up to 15 percent of BA.4/BA.5 variant infections per day are observed.
BA.4 and BA.5 are in turn sub-variants of BA.2. “They will probably also prevail in Austria in the medium term,” says the researcher from the Medical University of Vienna and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Despite a few genetic differences between BA.4 and BA.5, there are indications that BA.5 in particular has what it takes to become more widespread.
Video: It looks like the BA.4 and BA.5 variants could soon increase the number of infections again. The forecasts are currently uncertain. What we know about the mutations so far:
BA.4/BA.5 infections increase in the background
The Austrian data currently shows that BA.4/BA.5 infections are increasing in the background. International epidemiological studies indicate the growth rates for infections at ten to 15 percent. That would roughly equate to a doubling of the total cases with these subvariants over the course of a week. Bergthaler: “The data in Austria are more in the direction of doubling in twelve days.”
These differences could be explained, among other things, by different omicron waves. Protection against renewed infections with BA.4/BA.5 is higher where many people had been infected with their quasi-predecessor called BA.2 in the previous months. “Probably a BA.1 infection protects less,” says Bergthaler.
It is difficult to predict whether Austria is now heading for a summer wave that is suspected in some places with the new subvariants. It also plays a role here, for example, how many people also lose their immune protection in June or July. In addition, there is now much less PCR testing in this country, which in principle makes it difficult to compare past waves with future developments, the virologist emphasized.
Video: Microbiologist Michael Wagner assesses the current Covid situation
Around 3,000 new infections and one more death
Within 24 hours, 3,035 new corona infections were recorded in Austria by Wednesday morning. This is above the average of 2,230 cases over the past seven days. The seven-day incidence remained stable at 174 cases per 100,000 population. Another Covid death has been added since the previous day. There were still 464 infected people in the hospital, five fewer than on Wednesday. 48 affected people are being looked after intensively, an increase of five on the previous day and also on the previous week.
Burgenland reported 85 further infections, Carinthia 109 and Lower Austria 620. 349 positive tests were reported in Upper Austria, 192 in Salzburg and 233 in Styria. There were 186 new infections from Tyrol, 157 from Vorarlberg and 1,104 from Vienna.
Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 4,258,906 confirmed cases in Austria. 4,204,515 people have had one or more infections, and 2,424 are considered free of the virus within the past 24 hours. That means there were fewer than 36,000 active cases in the country as of Thursday. 3,298 vaccinations were entered in the e-vaccination card on Wednesday. Of these, 124 were first bites, 287 were second and 2,887 were third vaccinations.
Source: Nachrichten
