The escalating COVID-19 epidemic has caused global chaos. How to control the spread of the virus without letting epidemic prevention restrictions hinder the economy, many countries are trying to find a balance. The United States has cut the quarantine time limit for asymptomatic cases in half in an attempt to reduce the interference caused by the epidemic; France has ordered companies to allow employees to work from home at least three days a week. For the second year in a row, Germany, the largest economy in Europe, restricted people’s contact with each other, closed nightclubs and forced sports competitions to be held behind closed doors before the new year.
The surge in diagnoses in many countries is driven by the highly infectious Omicron mutant strain. The World Health Organization warned that even if the initial findings indicate that Omicron’s symptoms are mild, still not careless. The rapid increase in cases, even with mild symptoms, will still cause a large number of people to be hospitalized, especially among the unvaccinated groups, and lead to general chaos in the health system and other key services.
Research by South African scientists has shown that infection with the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron, can enhance immunity to the old variant of Delta. This study covers only a small group of people and has not been peer-reviewed, but it found that patients infected with Omicron have increased immunity to the Delta variant, especially those who have been vaccinated.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released a new research report that shows that Omicron has a shorter incubation period than other variants, only about 3 days, and has a high chance of repeated infection. However, if you have been infected with the disease or finished the vaccine before, the symptoms are mostly mild. The incubation period of other mutant strains is more than 5 days, and the Delta mutant strain is close to 4 days.
