New strains of COVID in Odesa region were not a disaster

New strains of COVID-19, which have become more frequently reported by doctors and the media, should not be a cause for panic, as the virus is becoming just another seasonal disease.

This was reported to Accents by doctors.

"These strains of Nimbus and Stratus are just a sub-variant of the same COVID-19, so they are actually easier to treat than the coronavirus itself used to be. We saw a surge in the incidence of the Flirt strain last year. It is the same virus, but mutated," explained Dr. Oksana Moloda.

As for the fact that the virus outbreak started earlier than other acute respiratory infections or influenza usually do, according to infectious disease doctor Anastasia Neklyudova, it is because COVID-19 is a relatively young virus and has not yet acquired a clear seasonality.

"A certain number of people have accumulated, their protective antibody titers have decreased, conditions have developed, a new strain has arrived, and now we have an increase in the incidence. This is not a catastrophe. Over time, COVID, which is already ours, will form its own seasonality," the doctor is sure.

However, doctors noted that the virus has not disappeared. It just became less noticeable due to the Russian invasion and the emergence of immunity in many people.

Earlier, the administrations of the Odesa Regional Clinical Hospital and the Odesa Regional Perinatal Center introduced quarantine restrictions in their medical facilities.

Кирило Бойко