2 deaths in the last 24 hours, 47 patients admitted to the New ENT Hospital and the weekly rate exceeding the mark of 300 positive cases. We are facing an upsurge since the restrictions were almost completely lifted as in the rest of the world where there has been a generalized increase, especially with the Centaur variant, which is the BA.2.75.
Situation in Mauritius
The deaths of the 2 patients have been directly attributed to Covid 19. The first was a 71-year-old resident of Pamplemousses with comorbidities. The second, younger patient, aged 42 years, suffered from heart problems. He was a resident of Trou d’Eau Douce, who was admitted to Bruno Cheong Hospital before being transferred to New ENT Hospital.
Of the 47 patients admitted to the Vacoas treatment centre, 6 are in intensive care, 2 of whom are on life support. More than 50% of the admissions are women, with 4 pregnant women admitted for Covid 19-related reasons. The New ENT Hospital attributes the increasing number of admissions since the lifting of the restrictions to the fact that there are no longer Covid Wards in the regional hospitals and reports that 90% of the patients admitted are over 60 years old. On the rate of positive PCR tests, the treatment centre says that 95% of the 309 cases recorded during the past week are asymptomatic. Vaccination is still highly recommended.
Centaurus at full gallop!
The resurgence of cases is attributed to this new sub-variant of Omicron. BA.2.75, which appeared in India about a fortnight ago, is on the Gallop. It joins the more circulating sub-variants, including BA.2 BA.4 and BA.5. For the time being, there is no indication of how dangerous it is, except for its spread. The Times of India reports “It is likely that the infection caused by this sub-variant is mild or asymptomatic. It is too early to say what the clinical symptoms of this sub-variant will be,” specialists advise elderly people with co-morbidities to be cautious. Outside India, BA.2.75 has been reported in Japan, Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, among others, but also in Mauritius. According to Santé Publique France, “the Omicron BA.5 sub lineage has been predominant for the past two weeks” and now represents 67% of the interpretable sequences as compared to 18% for BA.2. ‘There is a progressive replacement of BA.2 by BA.5“.
