Be wary of new Covid variant outbreak, medical pra...

Be wary of new Covid variant outbreak, medical practitioners' leader warns

Measles Outbreak Kills About 700 Children in Zimbabwe — Dr Johannes Marisa

Zim Now Writer

Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe president Dr Johannes Marisa has said the country should be on high alert for the COVID-19 XBB variant.

Currently, the variant has been detected in over 88 countries and 46 states in the United States.

“We need to be alert as a country, suspected cases should be tested quickly and case management thoroughly done. Not much information is available to show that it is more dangerous than the Delta variant.

“However, as an Omicron variant, it has higher transmissibility. And as a mutant strain, it can have chances to evade the immune system. If this happens, it would mean that everyone can be at risk despite the hybrid immunity, therefore, we should continue with genomic sequencing to scout for the XBB.1.5,” Marisa said.

The XBB.1.5 variant, which is five times more virulent than past variants, has symptoms ranging from joint pain, headaches, pain in the neck, upper back pain, pneumonia, lack of appetite, sore throat, sneezing, cold, cough and hoarse voice.

Community Working Group on Health director, Itai Rusike, said:

“The looming threat of a growing proportion of COVID-19 cases elsewhere due to XBB is a very worrying issue for our already overwhelmed public health delivery services, hence the need to expand efforts to increase our vaccination rates and national vaccine stockpile.”

He pointed out that there is need for authorities to continue with awareness campaigns on exercising Covid-19 regulations according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) expectations.

“With schools opening next week, there is need to strengthen the standard operating procedures for the safe re-opening and operation of schools. The school health co-ordinators should be supported and trained so that they can carry out COVID-19 literacy programmes to learners, teachers and support staff,” Rusike said.

Meanwhile, more than a dozen countries have imposed testing requirements on visitors from China, citing concerns about lack of transparency in Beijing’s infection data and the risk of a new variant of the virus emerging.