While COVID-19 cases are increasing all over the world, many countries have started to talk about the 7th wave. Authorities report that the new sub-variants of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, are mostly effective in existing cases. About the situation, The World Health Organization emphasizes in its statement that BA.4 and BA.5 SARS CoV-2 Omicron are 20 percent more contagious than the first variants (BA.1, BA.2, BA.3).
It is reported that the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which appeared for the first time in South Africa, differ from their previous variants with their mutations.
Differences are observed with BA.4 and BA.5 variants compared to previous Omicron sub-variants as increased infectivity, more resistance to human immune cells, increased recovery time of the infected people, and the known fever and sore throat symptoms become more frequent
In addition, the French Public Health Center reports that common symptoms at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, such as loss of taste and smell, are starting to appear again with BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
According to the statements of the World Health Organization, the most important reason for fight against the COVID-19 getting more diffcult and the inability to prevent the increasing number of cases after the BA.4 and BA.5 variants is the decrease in the number of tests.
Health authorities state that it is critically important to be tested against BA.4 and BA.5 variants, where even immunity is not sufficient for recovery. It is also said that high-confidence COVID-19 diagnostic tests are very important not only for the detection of existing patients and the spread of the disease, but also for the follow-up of effective variants and the analysis of future variants.
Authorities are calling for the reintroduction of rules such as wearing masks, hygiene and distance.
