The next wave of infections is associated with subvariants of the strain “omicron” BA.4 and BA.5. The resort business fears that Europe will close again during the summer holiday season.
With the onset of summer, another wave is expected coronavirus caused by these variants of the Omicron strain. According to Our World in Data, the number of coronavirus infections is increasing significantly in Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Experts justify this growth with new variants of the virus – BA.4 and BA .5 which are more contagious than the previous ones. They also refer to measures taken by the authorities to protect against the pandemic.
In particular, Portugal has been battling an increase in infections since mid-May. The country still has the highest weekly rate of registered infections in Europe. A new subvariant of “omicron” – BA.5 caused an increase in the spread of coronavirus. 90% of detected cases in Portugal are now caused by this type of virus. Fortunately, the incidence in Portugal has been declining again since the beginning of June.
South Africa, where the new version of the “omicron” BA.5 began its conquest of the world, has gone through a wave of infections in eight weeks. Experts predict that it will take Portugal from nine to ten weeks. But the summer will be ruined for many.
Read also: New versions of Omicron will cause new waves of COVID-19
Since mid-June, the number of infected in France is growing rapidly. According to official data, the weekly incidence rate is currently about 477 per 100,000 inhabitants (as of June 18).
As in France, the weekly incidence rate per 100,000 population in Germany is well above 400. The Robert Koch Institute announced on June 22 about 119,000 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours. Probably BA.4 and BA.5 are to blame. But according to RKI Deputy Chairman Lars Shaade, the lifting of safeguards also contributes to the deterioration of the coronavirus situation.
Greece and Italy, according to the weekly incidence indicator, the number of new infections also jumped sharply. In Italy, it is growing for the second week in a row, and the rate of transmission of the virus has again reached epidemic proportions, according to the Italian Ministry of Health. “This is our third summer of the pandemic, and we still haven't learned a lesson,” Walter Ricardi, Italy's former health minister, said in an interview with ADN Kronos.
In Spain, there has not yet been such a significant increase in the number of infected as in other European countries. There are officially registered cases of coronavirus only in people over 60 years. According to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, the national weekly rate in this age group is about 302 (as of June 17). In mid-June, omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5 accounted for more than 10 percent of positive tests. Its figures are still low.
In Sweden, for example, about 1,900 cases of covid per week were reported in mid-June, and in Poland, according to official data, 285 per day. In Denmark, where the number of patients is still small, people over the age of 50 will be offered a fourth coronavirus vaccination.
In Ukraine, according to index.minfin, the incidence tends to decrease. As of June 24, the number of patients is a little more than 25 thousand. Although, according to the Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Igor Kuzin , the indicators are also affected by the decrease in testing.
