'Stealth Omicron and Easing of Quarantine Measures' Impact... Europe's COVID-19 Resurgence

250,000 Daily COVID-19 Cases Surge in Germany
Partial Causes Attributed to Eased Restrictions and Reduced Vaccine Effectiveness

On the 14th (local time), tourists were walking without masks around the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The French government abolished the mask-wearing mandate in indoor public facilities, except for public transportation, starting from this day.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] The number of COVID-19 cases in Europe, which seemed to have stabilized for a while, is showing an increasing trend again.

According to a report by the US CNBC on the 15th (local time), infections of the stealth Omicron (BA.2), a sub-lineage variant of the existing Omicron (BA.1), are rapidly increasing in the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, and other countries.

BA.2 is called 'stealth Omicron' because it evades detection of Omicron through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

The report states that Germany is experiencing a clear resurgence trend with 250,000 new infections daily.

In the UK, the daily number of new COVID-19 cases was about 30,000 until the end of last month, but recently it has surged to 70,000 to 80,000 per day.

Additionally, infections have started to rise again, with France exceeding 180,000, Switzerland 20,000, Italy 80,000, and the Netherlands 50,000 daily cases.

The causes of the resurgence are attributed to the large-scale easing of quarantine measures taken by European countries and the spread of the BA.2 sub-lineage variant of Omicron.

In Denmark, BA.2 has already become the dominant strain over Omicron, and Danish experts report that BA.2 is 1.5 times more contagious than the existing Omicron.

In Germany, more than half of the new cases, and about 11% in the US, are classified as BA.2 infections.

Professor Lawrence Young of the University of Warwick analyzed, "It is clear that BA.2 is more contagious than BA.1, and combined with the easing of quarantine measures and waning immunity (over time after vaccination), this has led to the current infection surge."

Professor Young added, "The increase in BA.2 infections has already surpassed BA.1, replacing it. As other variants enter the population, such infection (re)surges are likely to continue."

He emphasized, "Living safely with COVID-19 (With COVID) does not mean ignoring the virus or hoping it will disappear forever."

He pointed out that especially in populations that are not fully vaccinated or whose vaccine-induced immunity is waning, the more the virus spreads and replicates, the more new variants will emerge, posing a continuous threat even to countries with high vaccination rates.

Meanwhile, UK health authorities maintain that BA.2 is not yet a cause for concern. Although infections have increased in recent weeks, hospitalizations have not increased proportionally.

Dr. Andrew Freeman of Cardiff Medical University said, "In the UK, hospital admission rates for COVID-19 patients are rising, but the number of deaths is not increasing proportionally," and added that although BA.2 is more contagious, there is no need for major concern.