Share of Variant BA.5 doubles from week to week



According to the RKI’s weekly report, the seven-day incidence is increasing again.
Image: dpa

The “corona infection pressure” could increase as early as summer. Seasonal effects could not compensate for the spread of the BA variants if rules of conduct are no longer observed, according to the RKI weekly report.

Dhe Robert Koch Institute (RKI) expects a further spread of more easily transferrable omicron sublines. “The currently strongest growth is shown by the proportion of the BA.4 and BA.5 sublines,” writes the RKI in the Corona weekly report on Thursday evening. This suggests that these pathogens will make up the majority of the evidence in a few weeks.

According to the report, BA.5 had a share of 10 percent in a sample from the week before last – the doubling continued from week to week. At BA.4 it is 2.1 percent, which is also roughly double the previous values.

Higher number of infections possible in summer

“In all likelihood, these two sublines will spread more, so that there may be an overall increase in the number of infections and a renewed increase in infection pressure on vulnerable groups of people as early as summer,” warns the RKI. Seasonal effects – which actually slow down the virus a bit – could not compensate for the spread of these variants if rules of conduct are no longer observed.

The RKI states that the nationwide seven-day incidence increased again last week compared to the previous week for the first time since mid-March (29 percent). It spoke of an increase in the number of infections transmitted in the past week by around 50,000 cases compared to the previous week. So far, there has been no talk of a trend reversal in the situation in hospitals: According to the RKI, the burden on the capacities of the healthcare system is continuing to decrease.



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