Explainer: What is BA.5 variant and why is it reinfecting people with Covid-19?
RISING CASE NUMBERS BA.5 is not new. It was first identified in January and is being tracked by the WHO since April.
A sister variant of the Omicron strain that has been dominant worldwide since the end of 2021, BA.5 has already caused spikes in case rates – even with reduced testing – in countries including South Africa, where it was first found, as well as the United Kingdom, parts of Europe, and Australia.
Coronavirus cases worldwide have now been rising for four weeks in a row, WHO data showed. WHY IT IS SPREADING? Like its closely related sibling, BA.4, BA.5 is good at evading the immune protection afforded either by vaccination or prior infection.
For this reason, "BA.5 has a growth advantage over the other sublineages of Omicron that are circulating," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19, said on Tuesday.
United States
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Cases: 46 252 513
Deaths: 750 423
Recovered: 0
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India
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Cases: 34 321 025
Deaths: 459 652
Recovered: 0
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Brazil
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Cases: 21 835 785
Deaths: 608 235
Recovered: 0
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United Kingdom
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Cases: 9 215 683
Deaths: 141 607
Recovered: 0
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Russia
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Cases: 8 494 589
Deaths: 237 619
Recovered: 0
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