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The number of new Corona infections is steadily decreasing, and with several factors contributing to this, molecular biologist Ulrich Elling is certain.
The announced Corona wave with the onset of winter in Austria has failed to materialize, and the numbers are plummeting. After two and a half years, is the coronavirus pandemic finally over? “Everyone is pleasantly surprised that the situation has remained stable for so long at the moment,” reveals molecular biologist Ulrich Elling in an interview with “Heute.”
That “Corona is over,” he does not want to speak of it in any case, but currently, the infection situation has calmed down: “The effects of the waves should be weaker.” According to the geneticist from the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), this is probably due to several factors.
On the one hand, he said the protection after a passed infection and the number of antibodies in the mucous membranes is higher than previously expected. On the other hand, the spread of the new variants worldwide is slower than initially expected. This is also clearly visible in the curves, which are much steeper for BA.2 or BA.5. “It shows the new variants have only a slight advantage over the others – as if they were running out of steam.”
In addition, he said, the number of unreported cases of the last wave with the omicron variant BA.5 was more than two million infections, meaning there was a high level of immunity in the population. “It’s not scientifically proven yet, but the protection after a passed BA.5 infection should be better than after BA.1 or BA.2. The new variants are those that bypassed BA.1 and BA.2 particularly well, but now we have a BA.5 wave behind us. Thus the immunity has refreshed.”
Since influenza is also still absent, contrary to expectations, we would find ourselves in Austria – at least for the time being – on an island of the blessed.
- source: krone.at/picture:
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