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BA.5: What's New?

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Welcome back to Surviving in the World (SIW), your newsletter written by students for those interested in global affairs. We always try to present select topics in global news in an easy-to-understand format.

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In today’s letter, we cover the resurgence of Covid-19 around the world.

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Brought to you by: Rachel Jung (’27)

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Word Count: 452 / Time: 4 minute read.

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“How to Live With Covid When You Are Tired of Living With Covid” (Source: Michelle V. Agins NYT)

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The BA.5, a subvariant of the highly-infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19, has begun its rise as the new “most contagious Omicron strain.” Like similar strains, BA.5 had been labeled by WHO as one of the currently circulating variants of concerns (VOCs). Although its first appearance was in February 2022, by the second week of July 2022, the BA.5 subvariant accounted for at least 80% of all US infections.

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  • Past virus victims are now more susceptible to the virus.

    • The immunity built by prior infections is proving more and more futile to the immune-evasive variants of the original COVID-19, including the BA.5.

  • Past vaccinations are considered less effective for the BA.5.

    • According to a study done at Columbia University, the BA.5 variant is four times more resistant to vaccine-induced antibodies than the original Omicron variant.

      • The BA.5 variant may be more indiscriminate towards vaccinated and non-vaccinated people than previous variants.

  • BA.5 may cause faster and more severe diseases.

    • The BA.5 variant can replicate inside its host’s lungs significantly faster than prior variants such as BA.2.

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The BA.5 has not only been contributing to the accumulation of COVID-19 cases in the US but has been leaving many other countries disoriented. This may have contributed to the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in South Korea.

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  • In South Korea, compared to the recession of cases in June, July is introducing another steep slope of new daily cases of COVID-19.

    • There was an average of around 8,000 cases daily in June and around 40,000 cases daily in July. The number of daily cases in July is almost five times greater than the number of daily cases in June.

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What can you do to protect yourself and others around you from the newest variants?

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  • Stay up-to-date with the latest, most developed vaccinations.

  • Wear thicker masks (such as KF-94) in more crowded areas and try to avoid removing your mask, whether it be indoors or outdoors.

  • Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.

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