//Preface//
Australia has almost lifted all epidemic restrictions,
However,
A more terrifying mutant virus has begun to invade!
new confirmed cases have increased significantly, and
The Ministry of Health issued an emergency warning!
terrorist variant XBB invaded Australia
Confirmation soared by 25%
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However, the latest submutation of Omicron is also the virus with the strongest infectious and escape immune mechanisms at present, XBB has entered Australia and spread rapidly in the community.
Image source: heraldsun
XBB Just arrived in Australia, the number of confirmed cases in Victoria has soared by 25%. At the same time, the hospitalization rate of new crown and the number of severe patients have also increased significantly.
According to data from the Victorian Ministry of Health, Victoria reported 8537 new crown cases this week, an increase of 24.7% from the previous week. The average daily number of new cases this week was 1,220.
Active cases in Victoria also increased from 5915 cases in the same period last week to 7851.
Currently, 172 patients are hospitalized, an increase of 20.3% over the same period last week. 7 people were in intensive care unit , and 2 people were using ventilators.
Image source: twitter
If it is just a new increase in confirmed cases, it may not have much impact, but the increase in the critical illness rate is not a good sign.
also because of the rising data, the Victorian Ministry of Health issued a warning: a new round of epidemic may have begun.
At the same time, the Victorian Ministry of Health called on the public to receive timely vaccination to enhance their immunity and prevent infection of new variants that affect their health.
Image source: heraldsun
At the same time, the Victorian government has also released the latest new life: Victoria's wastewater monitoring and clinical genome testing projects are actively tracking the emerging Omicron submutants BQ.1 and XBB.
In this statement, the Victorian government also emphasized that XBB and BQ.1 have been spreading in dozens of countries around the world, especially XBB, which has led to another outbreak of the epidemic in Singapore.
. Government monitoring data shows that the comprehensive prevalence of XBB and BQ.1 in wastewater and clinical samples is about 10%, which is extremely fast compared to the previous growth rate. If this continues, it is likely to replace BA.5 and become the new mainstream virus in Australia within a period of time.
virus threat level is difficult to evaluate
new variant is very tricky
Date University Epidemiology Chairman Catherine Bennett said in an interview: The threat level of XBB invasion to Australia is difficult to evaluate.
She said: Whether it is XBB or BQ.1, these new variants are actually very difficult, because they can be spread rapidly in different populations and different stages of immunity. Whether the current vaccine can still work for them is very difficult to sort out the context in a complete way, so it is also difficult to evaluate the threat of this new variant.
Image source: heraldsun
However, experts also said that although the new variants are worth paying attention to and being vigilant, people do not need to feel panic.
Governments and experts are working hard to study this new variant. Although it is more contagious and has stronger ability to escape the immune mechanism, it does not mean that it will form a global epidemic wave like Omicron.
Image source: heraldsun
Victoria's Ministry of Health also stated that Currently, most of the confirmed cases in Victoria are over 65 years old, but the increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations, coupled with the increase in the PCR positive rate and the number of antiviral prescriptions, indicates that the number of COVID-19 infections in the community has increased.
This is also the main reason why the Ministry of Health warns that a new round of epidemic may have begun.
Finally,
Now, Australia has no restrictions on epidemic prevention. For XBB, which is more contagious, once a new outbreak of epidemics breaks out and the threat of the virus intensifies, how should the government respond?
