Imperial College London has published updated data on the incidence of coronavirus in England, showing that omicron has almost completely replaced the delta variant and has become the dominant strain in the country. Scientists are particularly concerned about massive cases of reinfection among patients. /2022/05/dve-treti-infectedh-omikronom-v-anglii-uzhe-perenesli-covid-19-ranee-35f80b5.jpg” class=”img-fluid” alt=”Two-thirds of those infected with omicron in England have already had COVID -19 earlier” /> 3727
Incidence data from January 5 to 20 was obtained from the ongoing national REACT-1 study, which assesses the incidence rate among the population in England and the factors that influence it. During this period, specialists conducted more than 100.5 thousand PCR tests, coronavirus was confirmed in 4.41% of patients. This is the highest incidence rate since the beginning of the pandemic, and compared to December last year, the number of infected people has increased three times.
Selective genomic sequencing of virus samples showed that 99% of patients are infected with omicron, and only 1% are delta -option. This suggests that the new version has become dominant in England.
“We are seeing an unprecedented level of SARS-CoV-2 infection in England in January 2022 and an almost complete replacement of the delta with omicron,” the researchers write.
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In addition, 64.6% of those infected have already had COVID-19. Scientists noted that they allow a small error, since in some cases, in recently recovered patients, a PCR test could detect particles of virus RNA.
At the same time, the number of infected people is gradually decreasing, although it remains consistently high, especially among children and adolescents, which is largely due to the end of the school holidays. This leads to an increase in infection among the elderly population as children infect their grandparents. “We expect an increase in the number of hospitalizations among people over 65 years old. It is vital to monitor the situation now,” said REACT-1 leader Professor Paul Elliott.