Omikron is already in Prague. It is similar in Brno, says the test manufacturer
A new variant of the covid-19 omicron is advancing across Europe. Record numbers are reported by France, the United Kingdom or Italy. In the Czech Republic, according to estimates by the head of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics Ladislav Dušek, this type of coronavirus infection should have prevailed at the turn of January and February. But it will probably be sooner.
The Czech manufacturer of PCR tests Diana Biotechnologies estimates that the omicron variant will dominate in the Czech Republic at the end of the first week of January. It comes from the area monitoring its occurrence, which the company launched before Christmas. In cooperation with partner laboratories, it evaluated 120,000 PCR tests from seven regions.
📈 The attached graph shows the percentage of the omicron variant among the daily new cases of COVID-19, while a seven-day average is displayed and the graph thus has a delay of several days. pic.twitter.com/v1mwwAyuG5
– DIANA Biotech (@DianaBiotech) December 30, 2021
Monitoring of the omicron variant shows that on December 28, there could have been as many as 500 new cases in the Czech Republic, ie 15 percent of all new covid-19 cases.
“In the connected laboratory alone, we detected about 300 variants of omicron on December 27 and 28. The biggest problem is the large regional differences, but laboratories from seven regions are cooperating, so we assume that the results are relatively representative, “says scientific director Diana Biotechnologies Václav Navrátil.
Navrátila currently has the fewest cases according to the omicron variant in the Ústí nad Labem or Karlovy Vary regions, while a new type of coronavirus has already hit Prague. The Moravian metropolis of Brno has the same problem.
“Some laboratories in Prague show proportions of omicron variants in positive cases of as much as 40 or 50 percent. The capital is probably the most advanced in spreading the new variant. Brno, which reports about 15 percent, will be in a similar situation. Ostrava has about 5 percent, “adds Navrátil.
Omikron is spreading in the community
The weekly report of the State Institute of Public Health shows that in the last week until December 26, the laboratories detected discriminatory tests of only another 108 suspected omicron variants. According to Navrátil, however, the results may be delayed.
“The growth is really steep. Most laboratories recorded the first cases only 10 days ago, so there was a significant effect. In addition, the State Institute of Public Health relies on results from individual laboratories and cannot compile a representative analysis so quickly, ”explains Navrátil.
The State Institute of Public Health announced last week that this is a variant of omicron in the Czech Republic, in addition to cases for tourists after their return, especially from Africa, also spreads in the community. According to the institute, samples with suspicion of this mutation were detected in the previous week by laboratories operating in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Hradec Králové, Liberec, Zlín, Havlíčkův Brod, České Budějovice or Ostrava. However, samples from other regions can also be collected in them.
PCR test maker Diana Biotechnologies estimates that the number of omicron variants doubles every 2 to 3 days. This is crucial information for the Ministry of Health and the government in preparing a plan for potentially positive cases. “The Ministry of Health was the first to receive information from us,” adds Navrátil from Diana Biotechnologies.
On Thursday evening, a meeting was to take place between the Ministry of Health, Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09), and representatives of the expert team of the scientific vaccine scientist Roman Chlíbek, precisely regarding measures for the omicron variant. The government will discuss them at the first session in January.
SZÚ recommended testing in more detail instead of the current ten percent of samples 30 percent. As of Sunday, December 26, it applies valid emergency measures The Ministry of Health, which mandates discriminatory PCR on all human samples, has already reported that they have symptoms of coronavirus infection.
“According to the preliminary information available so far regarding the rapid spread of this variant, we assume that the omicron variant will fundamentally spread in the Czech Republic already at the beginning of January 2022,” the ministry writes in the justification of this decision.