The omicron variant was already the majority in Madrid and the Canary Islands 10 days ago

• Live Coronavirus, Spain, today

• Ómicron What we know (and what we don't) about the variant that worries the most and its possible origins

• Covid This is the advance of omicron, the guest you do not want this Christmas

• Boticaria García The 10 most frequently asked questions about omicron

The

variant

is already predominant at least in Madrid and the Canary Islands, where it accounted for, respectively, 55.4% and 54.8% of the cases in the week of December 13 to 19.

This is reflected in the latest update on the epidemiological situation of

variants

in Spain published by the Ministry of Health.

According to the report, the percentage of infections associated with the omicron variant in the aforementioned week throughout the country is only 20.5%, although this figure

.

The current data "are not totally representative at the national level since, despite the fact that the samplings are carried out randomly, the absence of data from some communities (especially in the most recent weeks) and the different proportion in which each contributes one of them limits the interpretation of this information ", the document acknowledges.

In general, the information available from sequencing and PCR screening "indicates that

" the paper notes. "Given the speed with which this expansion is taking place, the delay in obtaining and communicating the results means that the values ​​reflected in the weeks included in the report may underestimate the intensity of the circulation of this variant at the present time" .

The growth rate of omicron is being "very fast"

, the Health technicians confirm in the report.

"We already have data from two or three weeks for several communities, which allows us to appreciate a very rapid growth trend. Considering the set of samples analyzed at the national level, the percentage of samples compatible with omicron

", they point out.

Variant impact

"In Spain, it has gone very quickly from detecting the first cases associated with travelers from South Africa to detecting cases linked to community transmission and noting a rapid growth in surveillance systems based on sequencing and specific PCR of random samples," he continues the document, which also highlights that "

on the epidemiological characteristics of the infection, but preliminary studies point to greater transmissibility and greater immune escape. There is still a high level of uncertainty regarding possible changes in the severity of the cases ".

In the last 4 weeks analyzed by Health (from mid-November to mid-December) only 35 out of 2,127 sequenced random samples correspond to lineages other than those of the delta and omicron variants.

A person receives a vaccine against Covid at the Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Majadahonda (Madrid) .JAVIER BARBANCHO

According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), the omicron variant has already been detected in

and continues to spread exponentially, "doubling its cases in the communities where it is transmitted

."

Although the

is not yet clear

, preliminary data show that it has a high transmission and reinfection capacity, although it also appears to have a lower capacity than its predecessors to cause severe disease.

South Africa was, on November 25, the first country to sound the alarm about this new variant that accumulates many more mutations than any of the previous 'versions' of SARS-CoV-2.

If compared with the first Wuhan viruses,

, the

by the pathogen to enter cells (15 of these mutations are precisely in the binding domain to the receiver).

Some of these mutations - such as N501Y, T95I, T478K or G142D - are old known;

they were already present in variants such as

and have been associated with greater transmissibility or with greater ease in evading the immune response.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Science and Health

• Coronavirus

• Covid 19

• Omicron variant

• HBPR

CoronavirusThe fifth option of the WHO to end the Covid: "To get rid of the virus we have to invest in ventilation"

Coronavirus The omicron data: it is "extremely contagious"

CoronavirusÓmicron "needs" the third dose of the vaccine: there is a sharp decrease in efficacy with just two doses

See links of interest

• Last News

• What

• 2022 business calendar

• Check Christmas Lottery

• Covid passport

• 2021 Christmas Lottery Prizes

• Loteria del Niño 2022

• Second Prize Lottery 2021

• El Gordo de la Loteria

• Check Child's Lottery

• Arsenal - Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Crystal Palace - Norwich City

• Southampton - Tottenham Hotspur

• Watford - West Ham United

• Leeds United - Aston Villa