And once Again I have the story long before the rest of the media .Like I was posting on Covid long before the Irisn Media ,Same with the Brexit shit .If you didnt know better you might think I am A journalist a fully paid up member of the NUJ .(what do you think silver )Ireland and the rest of Europe is at risk of a significant increase in Covid-19 in the coming weeks after new off-shoots of Omicron were declared variants of concern today.
The new variants of concern are BA.4 and BA.5, which were first detected in South Africa in January and February of this year. They have led to another surge in infection.
They have become the dominant variants there, the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) said.
BA.2 is still dominant in Ireland and cases are falling. Hospitals which faced major disruption for months are now trying to increase non-Covid care and tackle waiting lists .
However, the new variants are due to become dominant in Portugal, a popular holiday destination with people from Ireland, at the end of this month.
The watchdog said the presence of these variants could cause a significant overall increase in Covid-19 cases in the EU/EEA in the coming weeks.
Both BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible than BA.2 but not more severe, according to current evidence.
The ECDC said: "Additionally, there is an increasing trend in the variant proportions for BA.5 observed in Portugal in recent weeks, accompanied by an increase in Covid-19 case numbers and test positivity rate.”