The identification of the first case of the omicron BA.2 subvariant of Covid-19 in Puerto Rico keeps the Dominican health authorities attentive and vigilant, who are awaiting the results of the latest sequencing of virus samples that are carried out. at the Dr. Defilló National Laboratory to determine whether or not it circulates in the country.
This was revealed to Listín Diario by the National Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Ronald Skewes, who said that the Dominican Republic is capable of identifying this subvariant or any new variant of Covid-19 that circulates in the national territory and that the results of the latest sequencing that they are made, you will receive them next Tuesday night.
He pointed out that the presence in Puerto Rico of this subvariant of the omicron variant should not be a cause for concern on the part of the population and that what should be done is to continue maintaining the preventive measures that are recommended from the beginning, such as hand washing. , use of masks and avoid crowds.
Skewes was consulted regarding information offered by the Puerto Rico Department of Health that shows that a woman resident in the municipality of Bayamón, near the San Juan metropolitan area, with no travel history, is the first case of BA in the country. 2, a subvariant of omicron, which has dozens of mutations.
Sequences
“We are sequencing the Covid-19 virus and we are in a position to be able to identify any of these variants, what happens is that on Tuesday night they send me the results from the National Laboratory, so that is where we are going to know” , said the director of Epidemiology of the country.
He said that the same preventive measures must be followed, as happened when the other variants appeared, such as delta, omicron, alpha and gamma, among others, which have not had any catastrophic effect in the country, which must be attributed to the high vaccination coverage since people have many antibodies.
He added that the country is in a position to identify any new variant that arises in national territory and thus would contribute to the international scientific community by providing all these sequences.
According to the statement released by the Puerto Rican authorities, BA.2 is the third omicron subvariant detected in Puerto Rico, following BA.1 and BA.1.1 were identified on the island.
Thursday hello
A high percentage of the Dominican population was affected during the last weeks of December 2021 and the first weeks of January 2022 during the fifth wave of the Covid-19 virus pandemic, caused mainly by the omicron variant.
This peak generated the highest percentages of infections in the country, with a transmissibility rate that reached close to 12, that is, one person had the capacity to infect 12 more, the highest recorded in the two years of the pandemic. .
