Infection rates rising as Sweden scraps last Covid-19 restrictions
Covid-19 infection rates are on the rise again in Europe, thanks to the new omikron BA.2 variant. In the meantime, another variant called deltakron is also starting to spread.
According to Niklas Arnberg, Professor in virology at Umeå University, more than 90 percent of positive tests now show traces of the new variant. BA.2 is more contagious than BA.1, but only causes mild symptoms for most people.
An even newer variant, deltakron, was discovered in France in January this year, and has now been identified in five other countries, including Denmark and the United Kingdom.
"We don't know much about the severity of deltakron yet, but I don't think there's any reason to worry," Arnberg told the TT newswire. "Deltakron is just a variant of two variants we already know."
He said deltakron might already be present in Sweden, even through the weekly report from the Public Health Agency hasn’t yet confirmed any cases. There are no indications so far that the vaccine would not work properly against deltakron, he said.
The wide spread of the new variant comes as Sweden's pandemic law, and other additional laws regarding the virus are set to be removed on April 1st.
Karin Tegmark Wisell, general director at the Public Health Agency in Sweden, told SVT that the pandemic was still ongoing and that everyone should make sure to live with it in a balanced way.
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According to Niklas Arnberg, Professor in virology at Umeå University, more than 90 percent of positive tests now show traces of the new variant. BA.2 is more contagious than BA.1, but only causes mild symptoms for most people.
An even newer variant, deltakron, was discovered in France in January this year, and has now been identified in five other countries, including Denmark and the United Kingdom.
"We don't know much about the severity of deltakron yet, but I don't think there's any reason to worry," Arnberg told the TT newswire. "Deltakron is just a variant of two variants we already know."
He said deltakron might already be present in Sweden, even through the weekly report from the Public Health Agency hasn’t yet confirmed any cases. There are no indications so far that the vaccine would not work properly against deltakron, he said.
The wide spread of the new variant comes as Sweden's pandemic law, and other additional laws regarding the virus are set to be removed on April 1st.
Karin Tegmark Wisell, general director at the Public Health Agency in Sweden, told SVT that the pandemic was still ongoing and that everyone should make sure to live with it in a balanced way.
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