Clearly, we are not completely out of the pandemic and a new potential quarantine: a new type of… Covid-19 In Northern Ireland, the newly discovered strain has the potential to make people seriously ill.
The strain, which appears to be part of a new BA.2.86 subvariant from Omicron, prompted the UK’s Covid and flu vaccination campaign to be brought forward in the autumn as a precaution. It was identified in August this year, and work is already underway after several cases were detected in Northern Ireland.
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Health experts currently indicate that there is no significant risk from the new strain, but this is subject to change. Reports from the Public Health Agency (PHA) indicate that the new Covid line has seen a slight increase in infections, the Mirror reported.
The Public Health Authority said the variant is no worse than those currently in the public, although it will monitor new “outbreaks” as they are discovered. The agency said hospital admissions increased.
Their statement read: “A small number of confirmed cases of BA.2.86 have now been identified in NI. There is no evidence at this time that this variant causes more severe disease or spreads more easily compared to other variants currently circulating.
“There has been an increase in the number of new outbreaks this week compared to the previous week; With 11 new outbreaks reported in week 39; Compared to seven the previous week. There has been a slight decrease in the number of emergency hospital admissions due to community-acquired coronavirus, with 65 admissions this week compared to 67 the previous week. The over 80 age group had the highest number of emergency community hospital admissions for Covid-19 in week 39 (40.0%).
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