Svrčinová also pointed out that a water polo tournament was held in Brno three weeks ago, which also included athletes from South Africa. Even a positive case from Belgium is tied to this tournament. Hygienists are investigating his contacts.
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“The European Center for Infectious Diseases has alerted us. About three or four weeks ago, a water polo tournament took place in Brno, which was also attended by players from South Africa. And one of the Belgian cases had a link to this tournament, so we are investigating possible links, “said Svrčinová.
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Other suspicions also appeared among the pupils of the primary school in Adamov in the Blansko region, where the class is in quarantine, and independently of that also among the pupils of the second class in the Arménská primary school in Brno.
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I do not think that stronger anti-epidemic measures should be taken at this time
Adam Vojtech
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“As for the 100% confirmed cases, these are only the two cases in the Liberec region. All other cases are suspicious cases that have not yet been confirmed by sequence, “said Health Minister Adam Vojtěch (for YES) on Thursday.
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He did not rule out that the suspicions could be confirmed. However, according to him, stricter measures are not yet needed. “I don’t think there is a need for stronger anti-epidemic measures at the moment,” he said.
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According to Vojtěch, it seems that omicron is more contagious, but it is not more dangerous than delta, and thus it would not pose a greater risk of hospitalization. But clear data is still missing.
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Svrčinová added that none of those infected have a serious course so far. “All our cases are asymptomatic or very mild,” she said. She confirmed that two omicron suspicions concern nurses working at the Brno University Hospital and their two children. “We have a variant of omicron, which is unfortunately very contagious. Our employees who have it already have a positive effect in their families, “said the deputy director of the Brno hospital, Ondřej Ludka.
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“These are two cases confirmed by our employees, not patients. We still sent the samples to the National Reference Laboratory for confirmation, but as far as I know, it looks like an omicron, “said the deputy.
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Suspicions in Prague and the Central Bohemian Region are also examined one by one. The other two cases concern schoolchildren from Blansko. Because of this, there is still one class in quarantine.
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Several preliminary reports have been shown showing that antibodies to this variant take up less, but still
Václav Hořejší, immunologist
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Developments in the Czech Republic do not yet deviate from what is happening in other countries. Omicron has already been captured in 40 countries. The highest number of cases is in Denmark. The omikron variant was first recorded on November 9 in South Africa.
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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday that omicron appears to be more contagious than previous variants. This is confirmed by the molecular biologist Jan Pačes with reference to the available data. “Unfortunately, the immunity of people who contracted the infection with the previous variant against the omicron variant is not very good,” Pačes told ČTK.
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Vaccines are expected to be less effective as they were developed against the original coronavirus. It is similar with antibodies after infection.
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It’s more contagious, but…
“Several preliminary reports have shown that antibodies against this variant take up less, but still work. Especially for those who are vaccinated with the third dose, it seems that this will not be a problem, “said immunologist Václav Hořejší. He emphasized that this was preliminary information from three laboratories.
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Pfizer and BioNTech, which are the most widely used vaccines in the Czech Republic, also pointed out the importance of revaccination. According to them, the results of the first tests of the omicron vaccine suggest that the vaccine provides a high level of protection against the disease when given three doses, while the basic two doses may not be enough.
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The EMA also encouraged revaccination. According to local representatives, it is safe and effective three months after the vaccination was completed. In the Czech Republic, the booster dose is given after five, resp. six months.
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