Prognostic consortium: Omicron is increasingly hitting home

Omicron will have an increasingly strong impact on coronavirus infection incidence in Austria in the coming days. This is the assumption of the Covid Prognosis Consortium in its preview published on Wedensday. As in the previous week, the panel again points to the significantly higher rate of spread of the omicron variant. A significant increase in the number of cases continues to be forecast, with Vienna initially being particularly affected. According to the consortium, an increase in the 7-day incidence is to be expected. According to the forecast, the current…

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New infections: Worldwide highest weekly value to date

The number of new coronavirus infections worldwide has reached its highest weekly level since the pandemic began. Around the world, an average of more than 935,000 infections per day were detected from Dec. 22-28. This was reported by AFP today with reference to authorities’ data. With a total of 6,550,000 cases within seven days, the coronavirus is currently spreading at an unprecedented rate, according to the AFP count. The previous weekly record was recorded between April 23 and 29. At that time, an average of 817,000 cases per day were…

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2022 will be an expensive year

In the new year, the wave of inflation that has been swelling for months will pile up even higher. Electricity will become more expensive by about 12 euros a month in eastern Austria starting in January. Milk, sausage and other foodstuffs will be increased… Here is an overview of what will become more expensive: Electricity and gas: after a first wave in November, utilities in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland are now raising their tariffs. Fuel: Prices have already risen sharply this year, and the CO2 tax is likely to…

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Opinion: Why there are no easy remedies against Omicron

The Omicron variant takes the speed of the corona pandemic to a new level. After almost two years under the corona pandemic, the world is again experiencing another challenge, as the omicron variant emerges in almost all continents of the world. Viruses are not people. They are not enemies of war or politics. They are aliens, blind, ruthless, insatiable miniature monsters that often kill their own hosts in their insatiable need to reproduce. And which, thanks to their immense reproductive capacity, also constantly get new opportunities to mutate. And thus…

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Omicron cases in Vienna more than doubled in two days

The fifth Corona wave is picking up speed with the spread of the infectious Omicron variant. This is best seen in Vienna, where the majority of PCR tests in Austria are evaluated, and only in Vienna are all positive PCR tests also checked for the Omicron variant. As of Tuesday afternoon, 1,330 Omicron cases have been detected in Vienna so far, according to an inquiry from the office of Vienna’s City Health Councillor Peter Hacker, published by DER STANDARD. 49 cases are already inactive. In the federal capital, there has…

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Study: Omicron infection protects against Delta infection

According to a study, infection with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus protects against infection with the Delta variant, which is considered more dangerous. Particularly with vaccinated ones, which would have infected themselves with Omicron, an improved immunity against delta developed, emerges from the investigation published on Tuesday by South African scientists. They had looked at data from 33 vaccinated and unvaccinated people infected with Omikron in South Africa. According to the study, the neutralization of Omicron increased an average of 14-fold within 14 days, while that of Delta increased…

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New Year’s Eve: Small parties allowed for all

Despite CoV pandemic, parties are allowed at the turn of the year. As with Christmas, the lockdown for unvaccinated people takes a break – meaning there are virtually no curfew restrictions. Parties at home are also allowed. However, the curfew at 22.00 for catering and culture remains in place. Differences for vaccinated or recovered and unvaccinated persons exist for parties at home: within their own four walls, unvaccinated persons may celebrate the turn of the year with a maximum of ten people. For vaccinated or recovered persons, the party at…

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New Study: effects of long COVID

According to a new study, the coronavirus can spread within days from the respiratory tract to the heart, brain and almost all organ systems of the body, where it can persist for months. In the most comprehensive analysis to date of the spread and persistence of coronavirus in the body and brain, scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health found “that although Sars-CoV-2 is most prevalent in the respiratory tract and lungs, the virus can spread early during infection and infect cells throughout the body, including the brain,” the…

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Rising trend: 1,697 Omicron cases detected in Austria

From Dec. 20 to 26, 1,218 of the new “variant of concern” were detected, according to recent data from the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES). The still dominant mutation B.1.617.2 aka Delta continues to be in retreat. At week 51, Delta was registered less than three times as often as Omicron – at week 50, the factor was still 16. In week 50, the ratio of delta to omicron was 5,475 to 332, but one week later it was 3,307 to 1,218, with the overall number of cases…

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