The BA.2 stealth subvariant of Omicron has now surged to make up 18.5% of new Covid-19 cases in Thailand. A top virologist told Nation Thailand that although the symptoms of BA.2 are no more severe than BA.1, it spreads faster. The Public Health Ministry says BA.2 is called a stealth variant because PCR tests don’t always detect it. Japanese lab experiments show AB.2 weakens immunity created from vaccines, although people with booster shots are 74% less likely to get infected by it.
Thailand reported 18,885 Covid-19 infections in 24 hours on Friday. 224 of these infections were from international arrivals. The death toll went up by 29. 10,946 people recovered from Covid-19 and left hospitals. Top virologist Yong Poovorawan posted on Facebook this morning, showing a chart of information on Covid-19 cases and deaths per week. The information is from the Department of Disease Control. The most recent numbers on the chart, which are at week eight of 2022, show a very steep spike, although the deaths per week are much lower than the number of cases.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand | Yong Poovorawan