Xiao Jieheng, associate professor of PolyU's Department of Medical Technology and Informatics, said on June 13 that he was more worried about the BA.4 and BA.5 variants that were gradually spreading around the world.
Cases caused by the two viruses have increased recently, with Taiwan recording five imported cases.
Some Latin American countries are showing signs of a rebound in the epidemic because of them.
The UK is more likely to usher in a third wave of the epidemic in six months.
Xiao Jieheng said that he believed that the risk in Hong Kong would continue to increase, but he believed that as long as it did not constitute a burden on the public medical system, there was no need to tighten the epidemic prevention policy.
United Kingdom
According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of new crown diagnoses in England and Northern Ireland has shown a "slight increase" recently, showing that Omicron (Omicron) BA.4 and BA.5 are driving the recent increase in cases 's motivation.
In the week to June 2, an estimated 797,500 and 27,700 people had been diagnosed in England and Northern Ireland respectively, up from 784,100 and 24,300 the previous week.
ONS data shows that as the number of confirmed cases of BA.4 and BA.5 in the country is increasing sharply, the number of hospitalizations in the UK is also increasing, increasing by 10% every week.
Public health officials in England noted that they are particularly concerned about BA.5, which spreads faster than BA.4, which is also responsible for the recent surge in new cases in European countries such as Portugal and Germany.
The first Omicron mutant virus strain BA.1 appeared in November 2021 and caused a new wave of outbreaks worldwide.
A second wave of outbreaks in the UK this spring was driven by a more contagious strain of the virus, BA.2.
While BA.2 cases are now decreasing, it has two more contagious offspring, BA.4 and BA.5, both of which are causing an increase in cases.
The 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne is seen as related to the recent increase in the epidemic in the UK, as large crowds gather and increase the risk of virus transmission.
The picture shows on June 4, Britain's Prince Charles (first row right) and his wife Camilla (right second), Prince William (right third) and his wife Kate (right second), Prince George (middle) and Charlotte Princess Todd (third from left) attends a concert in London to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne.
(Getty)
Israel
The sharp rise in the number of confirmed cases in Israel over the past few days has been blamed for BA.5.
The Ministry of Health is advising people to start wearing masks indoors again.
The number of confirmed cases in Israel has increased sharply in the past few days, with 5,817 new cases recorded on the 12th.
The country recorded 33,000 new cases last week, a 105% increase from a week earlier.
The "Jerusalem Post" said on the 13th that the reason for the surge in cases in Israel has not been confirmed, but it is likely the same reason that many other countries have also reported a recent increase in confirmed cases - that is, BA.5.
Latin America
Xinhua News Agency said on the 13th that due to factors such as the accelerated spread of the new Omicron virus strain, the recent rebound of the new crown epidemic in Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia and other countries in Latin America.
Experts believe that with the continuous increase in vaccination rates, the number of hospitalizations and deaths caused by the new round of epidemics in Latin America may be lower than the previous peaks, but people still need to take protective measures.
Since June, the new crown epidemic in Mexico has shown signs of rebound, and some local media have called it the beginning of the fifth wave of the epidemic.
According to statistics from the health departments of Brazil's states, the country's daily average of 160 new deaths in the past week has reached the highest level in two months.
Brazilian experts say Brazil is facing a new wave of outbreaks as a new mutated strain of Omicron spreads.
Bolivia's Health Minister Aousa said on the 6th that the number of confirmed cases in the country has been rising for four consecutive weeks, marking the beginning of the fifth wave of the new crown epidemic in Bolivia.
Panama is also currently at the peak of the fifth wave of the epidemic, but its epidemic curve has shown a downward trend.
Taiwan has recently recorded some BA.4 and BA.5 imported cases, and the authorities are vigilant.
(AP)
Taiwan
The Taiwan Epidemic Epidemic Command Center said on the 13th that there were 5 new imported cases of Omicron mutant virus strains BA.4 and BA.5, 4 males and 1 female, aged between 30s and 60s. , the entry days are between June 2 and 7.
BA.5 The epidemic is worrying
A recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that BA.5 now accounts for 7.6 percent of all new cases in the U.S., and similar figures are seen in countries including Germany.
Germany estimates that 10% of all new cases are BA.5.
However, figures from some other countries are more worrying, with Portugal reporting that BA.5 accounts for 80% of all cases.
Epidemic | The proportion of Omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 in the United States has increased, and the number of reinfection cases has exceeded 1.6 million Omicron | BA.4 and BA.5 are more infectious and pathogenic than BA.2 This organ is more vulnerable to multi-country epidemics ｜Omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 raged in South Africa, the epidemic rebounded new coronary pneumonia ｜Omicron subspecies BA.4 and BA.5 have stronger ability to avoid antibodies, which may lead to new epidemics