Recent media (as in Reuters on Dec 25,2022) speak a lot about the new type of Omicron viruses spreading massively with10 lakhs new cases per day in China’s Zhejiang.
THIS PARTICULAR CORONAVIRUS:
SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus causing COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2,like any other viruses, change with time, a property called as mutation.
Among many variants through mutation, Omicron is leading the infection in the world in the current scenario.
Omicron sub-variant BA.5 is causing a massive rate of infection in China.
This current sub-variant in news media is BF .7 (BA.5.2.1.7),which is creating havoc in the lives of people in China.
The signs and symptoms of the disease are similar to other sub-variants of Omicron.
The rates of infections of this sub-variant are found to be higher than the other variants.
Prevention includes the same principles of physical distancing, masking, avoiding crowded areas, complete vaccination with booster doses, and washing hands/use of sanitizers frequently.
Nepal has no reported case of this particular sub-variant of Omicron virus as of today, but a strict monitoring and regular genomic analysis of the positive cases found in Nepal is required.
(This is subject to change with new information through research, but holds true until the day it was drafted on December 26,2022).
-Dr.Yagya Prasad Timalsina
Dr.Yagya Prasad Timalsina 