sonjack2847

A bit long winded. COVID-19: Some Omicron cases have 'mild' symptoms and experts should know more about transmission 'within days' - WHO Wed, 1 December 2021, 11:40 pm·4-min read Some Omicron cases are experiencing "mild" symptoms and experts should have more information about the transmission of the new COVID variant within days, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. This is faster than the "weeks" the WHO had predicted last week it would take to assess the data available on the strain after designating it a "variant of concern", its highest rating. At least 23 countries, including the UK, have now reported Omicron cases and the WHO expects that number to rise. Speaking at a news conference, Maria van Kerkhove said one of the possible scenarios was that Omicron may become more transmissible than Delta but experts do not yet know about its severity. See latest COVID updates in the UK and around the world She said the WHO had seen reports of Omicron case symptoms ranging from mild to severe disease. "There is some indication that some of the patients are presenting mild disease," she told reporters. And she said there was a suggestion of increased hospitalisations across South Africa, one of the first nations to detect it, but she pointed out that this could be down to more cases there. The organisation said earlier this week preliminary evidence raised the possibility the COVID variant has mutations which could help it evade an immune-system response and boost its ability to spread from person to person. It comes as a key group of UK scientists warned Omicron could trigger a surge in COVID infections bigger than previous waves in the country with a risk it may overwhelm the NHS. Experts on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), which advises the government, held an extraordinary meeting last week to consider the new COVID variant, known scientifically as B.1.1.529, following its detection in South Africa. According to a note of their meeting, which was observed by both a key Department of Health official and England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam, the group concluded the introduction of Omicron to the UK "might have very serious consequences". Nine more cases of Omicron have been detected in England, taking the total to 22, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The people who have tested positive and their contacts are all isolating. Work is taking place to identify any links to travel to southern Africa. Omicron cases have now been identified in the East Midlands, East of England, London, the South East and North West. A further case has been detected in Scotland, bringing the total there to 10. Meanwhile, Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's emergency director, said there was no evidence yet that giving booster jabs to the whole population, including healthy people, will provide greater protection against the disease, and said governments around the world should ensure all vulnerable individuals are offered at least one vaccine dose. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to offer a booster COVID shot to all over-18s in the UK by the end of January. But, responding to a question from Sky's Tom Clarke, Dr Ryan said: "Right now there is no evidence that would suggest that boosting the entire population is going to necessarily provide any greater protection for otherwise healthy individuals against hospitalisation or death. "The real risk of severe disease, hospitalisation and death lies in particularly at-risk and vulnerable individuals who do require protection against all variants of COVID-19." And his WHO colleague, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, said: "Our goal should be to protect those who have not received their primary course of vaccination." The NERVTAG meeting, held via telephone conference on Thursday afternoon, came the day after South African authorities first reported the discovery of the Omicron variant. The UK government added six southern African countries, including South Africa, to its travel red list on Friday. A further four countries were added over the weekend. Other nations have also introduced travel bans, but the WHO said those restrictions are having an impact on global co-operation against Omicron by causing "challenges" to the sharing of laboratory samples from South Africa that can help get a better grip on the new variant. Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for "tailored" intervention by countries, including testing travellers before and after they arrive in a country, and advised against "blanket travel bans" that "place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods". The high number of mutations on the protein spike that Omicron uses to infect human cells could mean existing vaccines need to be modified. Some vaccine manufacturers have tried to calm fears about the new strain by predicting existing jabs would continue to prevent severe disease.

Well that might change when they find out what this new variant is all about. Never ending story.

How can anybody call that girl a nurse, I hope she never treats me, she has spent useless years to become nothing.

That means they cannot do anything as the scavenger has nothing to give in the way of a penalty. Cannot get blood out of a stone.

I saw straight away ( I think) how they came to that figure, and I think what they did was use the unused first doses as second jabs.

No mate they did what I would call a proper evaluation. I do have a transformer fitted as potentially we could use 30k plus electricity per month.

If you test negative when you leave your home country and again when you get here where is the problem? I do think that some of the people making decisions are not best suited for the job, IE no medical knowledge.

I have never understood the need to show proof of earnings or money in the bank. The reason I write this is because if we run out of money they don`t give us any. I understand not letting in destitute people but 200 us a day.

Plus, if we ever get back to near normal, there might be an awful lot of people out of work. Maybe, there is a certain amount of self preservation in their decisions.

Paying extra money for this kind of thing would bug the crap out of me, but I would pay it and think to myself "well there is one more thing out of the way". Then I would just get on with my life, it`s all sent to try us.

You know you have adjusted when you eat white rice with a meal.

Yeh I`m in.

Keep it a secret or I may well end up as plant food.

Another thing when buying property, if you use an agent the price can go up by 1/3 around here so be ready to negotiate as the seller or agent might drop the price.

We looked at a few new build properties to rent out and found the same thing, the internal finish was very basic and would take quite a bit of time and money to finish. Some things, roof vents etc, you might want to install would be done as a basic install in the UK but here an optional extra.

Well that makes all the sellers around here delusional then. Prices have been stable/ rising here since the pandemic started. You might get lucky and buy some land which the owner has to have fast cash.

Lets hope it does open up then all the couples/families which are apart can get together. Also it will help many parts of the economy which are in need of income.

Dave even I have my limits. OK I know they are low but

I took the Sinovac as I have no plans to travel outside of the Philippines.

I answered you on FB here is what I put and they took it down as offensive. I had sinovac I don`t see what the problem is grasshopper.

I watched Captain pugwash as a kid, seaman stains, Roger the cabin boy. Yeh pull the other one Clermont.

Yes not having a female never stopped them before.

I don`t believe that story.

Baby boom next year maybe

Getwell soon Jim