Although many would try to convince us that the COVID-19 pandemic is somehow over, the reality is it’s raging on stronger than ever. COVID deaths are at an all-time high and two new variants are emerging in Australia — please remind me why we’re not all wearing masks on public transport again?
The new variants of COVID-19, called XBB and BQ. 1, have been identified as the cause of a rapid increase in hospitalisations and deaths down under.
According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), hospitalisations in Victoria have increased by 20 per cent in the last couple of weeks. Miss XBB and Miss BQ. 1 are having a girls’ vacation across the country and I am personally not a fan of their shenanigans.
In case you tuned out of COVID news completely, the dominant strain in Australia at the moment is BQ. 5. Despite XBB and BQ. 1 not being here for long, it looks like they’re already set to take over as the new bad binches in town. XBB in particular has already taken over multiple countries, earning it the moniker of “nightmare” variant.
“Surveillance shows the … rapid growth of BQ. 1 and XBB in the past month, with a combined prevalence of approximately 10% in wastewater and clinical samples,” a statement from Victorian Chief Health Officer and full-time Daddy Brett Sutton read.
“The increase in cases and hospitalisations, combined with an increase in the PCR positivity rate and antiviral prescriptions (up 8 per cent in the past week) … show we are at the start of another COVID wave.”
Fun stuff.
COVID fatality figures are also looking pretty grim at the moment. It’s a stark reminder that although we don’t have to wear masks anymore, we absolutely should when we can.
COVID is killing thousands of Australians who would have otherwise lived, likely to be 20-30,000 by year’s end. This fig shows that, after saving lives in 2020 (another story), once this line crossed the zero in late 2021, we were in ‘excess’ territory. 1/ pic.twitter.com/miBYSruMhT
— Prof Brendan Crabb AC (@CrabbBrendan) October 30, 2022
“COVID continues to kill people at an extraordinary rate,” said Professor Brendan Crabb on Twitter.
“Even now in our lowest point, we are losing 10-20 people each day who would otherwise not have died.
“By way of comparison, we have lost 308 people this year to influenza, yet COVID deaths are over 13,000.”
This is not to create fear. But to promote #VaccinesPLUS action. I am on a train as I write this with prob 100 others. I’m the only one with a mask despite it being strongly recommended. Why would they wear one? I suspect most have no idea of the ongoing impact of COVID. 7/end
— Prof Brendan Crabb AC (@CrabbBrendan) October 30, 2022
What is known about XBB and BQ. 1?
Sure, XBB has been called the “nightmare” variant of COVIDand has already taken many lives, but it’s less scary if you’re vaccinated
These two variants are only scary because they mutate and spread fast, not because they’re more fatal or have harsher symptoms.
For some peace of mind, the World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t yet labelled either as concerning.
“So far there is no epidemiological evidence that these sublineages will be of substantially greater risk compared to other Omicron sublineages,” WHO wrote in a press release.
“The potential impact of these variants is strongly influenced by the regional immune landscape.”
So if you’ve had COVID-19 before and have all of your vaccines, you should be right as rain. Of course, wearing a mask in public is always your safest bet, especially when taking public transport.
We may be entering another COVID-19 wave, but we’re all surfers at this point, we’ve got this.
