According to Michael Kidd, deputy chief medical officer, the UK’s new subvariant of omicron, BA.2, has a growth advantage that is more infectious than the existing BA.1 variant.
Greg Hunt and Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, were briefed about the new COVID-19 variant.
According to new research by the UK Health Security Agency, Michael Kidd, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, believes that the BA.2 sub-variant has a “growth edge” over the original omicron version.
Kidd reports that the new variant was reported in Victoria and NSW. Kidd also says it could be becoming the main sub-variant of omicron in other countries, including Denmark. Public health analysts are closely monitoring Denmark, which is considered a comparable jurisdiction to Australia’s major states.
We don’t know if the sub-variant has significantly different characteristics, but we are not seeing any more severe diseases associated with it than the original Omicron bearing.
“We are not currently focusing on anything that might be causing concern.”
Kidd believes that the new variant could become a concern if it becomes more dominant.
Professor Kidd claims that children returning to school will experience an increase in infections partly due to additional testing by their families and schools.
All aged homes will be offered boosters this week
Greg Hunt, Health Minister, says that the government expects all aged-care facilities to be visited for booster shots within a few days. He also stated that safety is the greatest challenge in the pandemic.
He claims that more than 98% of aged care staff have been fully vaccinated, and residents who aren’t will be encouraged to reevaluate their vaccinations.
Hunt estimates that 60 percent of the aged care deaths occur in palliative care.
25% of all deaths occur in elderly people who have not been vaccinated, or are only partially vaccinated.
