A new wave of COVID-19 cases has been recorded in Sumy region. In addition, a new strain of coronavirus, FLiRT , has been detected in the region. This was stated by the acting director general of the Sumy Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Iryna Kuprienko, UNN reports.
Details
Kupriyenko noted that this year's wave of COVID-19 cases started a little earlier than usual: for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic, it happened before the start of the school year.
Therefore, experts predict that the wave will peak in the second half of September, but with the start of the school year, the prerequisites for the spread of the disease among schoolchildren and students will be activated, so these forecasts can be adjusted by the real situation.
It will take up to two more months for the wave to complete after the peak.
I cannot ignore the fact that over the past two weeks, two deaths among people with COVID-19 have been reported in the region. Before that, the last death was registered in May of this year. The deceased were residents of the Sumy community, a man aged 69 and a woman aged 75. Both had chronic cardiovascular disease and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the last 12 months
She emphasized the importance of vaccination against COVID-19. Although vaccines cannot currently protect against infection with the pathogen, it has been proven that people who have received the vaccine get sick in a milder form, are much less likely to be hospitalized and much less likely to die from the disease.
It should be noted that simultaneously with the beginning of the increase in morbidity in Ukraine, the circulation of a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 called FLiRT was detected. This pathogen was also detected in Sumy region. The main features of FLiRT viruses are the ability to evade the body's immune response and spread rapidly among the population. Given the high rate of increase in the incidence in the region, it can be assumed that the current wave is due to the predominant spread of this particular variant
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According to Kuprienko, the increase in the incidence began almost simultaneously in all districts of Sumy region. She also noted that the incidence of COVID-19 is growing among both children and adults, but the intensity of the epidemic process among adults is 1.6 times higher.
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The share of children in the overall structure of cases is growing and currently does not exceed 10%.
Recall
The number of patients with coronavirusin need of hospitalization is increasing in the capital . As of August 20, 130 patients are in hospitals, and the number of those in need of oxygen support and ventilators is growing.