The upward trend, which manifests itself despite the warm weather, is unique in Europe. In the Netherlands, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, for example, the graphs show declining lines.
The number of infections is also decreasing in Portugal’s only neighboring country, Spain. Portugal recorded 2,888 new infections per million inhabitants in the week until yesterday. In Spain it was 373.
More weeks of high numbers
According to the British newspaper The Guardian a researcher from the University of Lisbon expects high contamination figures until at least the end of this month.
The BA.5 variant was first identified in the Netherlands on April 22, but it has not yet led to a striking increase in the number of infections or deaths here. BA.2 is still dominant here, but the health institute RIVM takes into account that BA.5 can become dominant.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are no indications that BA.5 is more pathogenic than BA.2.
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In Germany, the number of infections with BA.5 has doubled in recent weeks, but this variant is still in the shadow of its dominant brother BA.2: it still accounts for 96 percent of all positive cases.
Next wave in fall
Nevertheless, according to the German health minister Karl Lauterbach, there is certainly reason to be vigilant: BA.5 can, he said, ’cause the next wave in the autumn’.
All of Europe is anticipating a revival of corona in the autumn, when temperatures drop again. In Germany, the leaders of the sixteen federal states have already met to discuss possible measures. This includes closing schools and nursing homes.
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