A Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) recorded a sudden increase in covid-19 cases among outsourced servers, students and employees. According to the institute, 104 exams were held in the first ten days of November, an increase of 27% compared to the entire month of October. Of these, 28 tested positive for the coronavirus, which also corresponds to almost 27% of the total carried out.
The index of cases is the highest ever recorded in 2022 and approaches those of periods in which transmission and contamination peaks occurred.
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New subvariants in circulation
The presence of subvariants BQ.1 and BA.5.3.1, probably responsible for the increase in the number of cases in Brazil, has not yet been tested. However, according to the university team, the expectation is that they will be detected in ongoing collections.
Another important result is that many of the samples collected were found to be positive for the presence of the flu virus, a test carried out as part of a specific research project. In the analyzes carried out last Wednesday (09), for example, 14% were positive for the flu virus. This result indicates that there is an outbreak of Covid-19 and influenza at the same time in the university community.
Therefore, Professor Jaqueline Carvalho de Oliveira, one of the project coordinators, explains that assistance, especially for groups most susceptible to respiratory diseases, must continue. “Although the new variants have not been associated with increased severity, it’s important that people are aware of increased transmission and request testing if they experience symptoms.”
