COVID bounces back - is the BA.2 mutant set to take over?

This week, Tim looks at the newly discovered Omicron variation BA.2, as well as the latest data from the ZOE app on rates of reinfection, and duration of COVID symptoms.

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If you need subtitles, please click the option for subtitles at the bottom right of the video

-- Sections --
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Cases this week
03:21 - Hospitalisations update
05:45 - Age group comparison
06:43 - Looking internationally
08:14 - New Omicron variant (BA.2)
10:09 - Reinfection rates
12:34 - Symptoms update
15:05 - Recovery rate comparison
16:19 - Conclusion

[kmitwif]

Tim, your mum must be incredibly proud of you. I hope you get to visit and hug her really soon. And as always thankyou for the evidence based information/ update. Looking forward to supporting ongoing health research.

[HuntyWatford]

pretty much my one source for information now. No lags, no parties, just good old honest info. Great work Zoe people

[angharadhafod]

Serious point about the voting for priorities for other studies: the "leader" (heart disease) comes top of the list, when you go to vote, and the instructions sort of encourage clicking that one. When I looked further at the page it had just landed me on, I saw there were other options, and I then changed my vote for one of the other options.
Unless you randomise the order when you present users with these options, I don't think this is a valid poll.

[crichardson]

"Behave responsibly" - and therein lies the problem. People need that defining for them. "Getting back to normal" isnt the same as "behaving responsibly".

[anitapellegrine]

Thank you once again Tim, so happy for you that you get to see your mum properly, made me smile.
Thank you for giving us the good and the bad in a way that we can understand.
Take care and keep up the good work Zoe team xx

[barbarale-tallec]

Thanks Tim and team for the weekly update, we really appreciate them.

[jlrguy]

So South Sfrica has both lower vaccination rates with lower positive tests and much lower hospitalisations. Does that show a inverse correlation between vaccine and covid?

[zoegraham]

You haven’t mentioned about long covid rates for a long time. I know we need to get back to normal life, but what about the risks of long covid? It’s not just hospitalisation, deaths and recoveries. People have been “recovered” but young previously healthy people have been unable to live a normal life or work for months/years. I wish the app would contain more information and help on researching this as well.

[evasell]

Thank you Prof Spector- interesting that the Omicron cases are climbing again, expected with children returning to school.. As you said, we must learn to live with it and act responsibly. Noted. Appreciate the weekly bulletins you and your team collate - that for me is the source of data I listen to. I avoid the media as too confusing.

[cyclicalcycler]

Well tim we are doing great in Denmark, all restrictions are lifted on the 1. of feb despite new daily recordbreaking case numbers, but icus are nearly empty, natural immunity is high since theres almost no people left to infect and our government more or less declared "pandemic is over" yesterday. We still gonna test for surveillance, but its no longer a must do scenario. BA.2 very mild indeed... Good Luck

[kevinrogers]

Is there any Long covid data from the Zoeapp?

[britishfilmguy]

Thanks for the information just a shame our government doesnt take you're information as seriously. I've got two family members with underline health issues. Everytime a variant comes it gives me alot of concern.

[wjs]

Thank you and I really hope your mum’s care home will take note of your views . It’s gone on too long now and elderly people need the balance of mental and physical welfare.

[Hundredthldiot]

Regarding BA.2, rising share of a given variant doesn't necessarily mean intrinsically more transmissible, it might mean more evasive of whatever immunity is in the population.

[Lost-In-Blank]

In my part of Canada, Manitoba, the official rules have been changed to that PCR tests are only given to people who may be eligible for drug or antibody treatment if positive for covid. The great mass of testing now is lateral flow and none of those positives go into our statistics. They realize this means our case numbers are now even wildly inaccurate*, but they do not want to waste PCR tests on people who are very very unlikely to need treatment. They want to keep the turnaround time for PCR tests for those who would be eligible for treatment below 24 hours even on weekends and holidays.

* Before our statistics were only inaccurate because most people under 40 didn't bother getting tested unless their covid symptoms were severe or their occupation (healthcare or education) demanded it.

[Lost-In-Blank]

9:00 Is "it [Omicron] most prevalent in Demark" or is it actually that Denmark is the only other country that does a credible job of tracking and searching for new variants? (Second country besides the UK.)

[jacquelineharvey]

In the ZOE app all the regional graphs show reductions in cases yet the national numbers are increasing. How does this happen?

[csharpminorseven]

Thank you Tim, your work very much respected and appreciated. I hope you can see your mum properly soon. Best wishes.

[donaldevanshennings]

What is a re-infection. Is it catching the same variant more than once or catching more than one variant ?
If the latter how would any one know as the variant is not reported to individuals who test positive.

[jennasmith]

The infants school local to us has over 50 kids off with it and 12 teachers, however not all of those parents are reporting the positive lateral flows so I'd imagine that the positive rates for kids age group will be underrepresented .