Omicron subvariant BA.2 more transmissible but not more virulent: Quebec report

Quebec government is reporting 31 new deaths from COVID-19 and a 57-person drop in the number of people hospitalized with the virus.According to numbers published today on the province’s open data website, there are now 1,994 people in hospital, compared to 2,051 on Friday.There are 64 people in intensive care, which is an increase of four.The last time the province reported fewer than 2,000 hospitalizations was on April 13.Quebec has now recorded 15,137 deaths due to COVID-19, after passing the 15,000 mark one week ago today.The province’s interim health director said earlier this week that Quebec has passed the peak of the sixth wave, and the province will end its mask mandate for indoor public spaces on May 14.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is closely monitoring two new COVID-19 subvariants of Omicron, the highly transmissible variant of concern now dominant around the world.

Omicron infection can increase the level of antibodies against the Delta COVID variant, but only if you are vaccinated against the virus, a new study has revealed. 

booster shots at private vaccination centres.

Three new studies report on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) and antibody responses to Omicron, with one from Sweden finding a drop in two-dose VE against severe disease after the transition from the BA.1 to the BA.2 subvariant but three-dose protection remaining above 80% against severe disease.

The lingering effects of long COVID from Omicron are less severe than the delta variant, a new UK study revealed. 

COVID-19 pandemic.Hospitalizations related to the disease stood at 2,051 after 127 people were admitted and 195 were discharged in the last day.There were 60 patients in intensive care units, a drop of four.The province also recorded 1,243 new infections of the novel coronavirus. The daily tally doesn’t provide a a full portrait of the situation since it is based on PCR testing results, which remains limited to certain groups.

changing climate, that kind of process will be the reality in nature just about everywhere. This will bring greater opportunities for viruses like Ebola or coronaviruses to emerge in new areas, making them harder to track, making it easier for viruses to jump across a "stepping stone" species into humans.

WASHINGTON - For the past year, America's job market has run like a well-engineered machine, adding an impressive average of 540,000 workers a month despite a punishing inflation rate, Russia's ruinous war against Ukraine, a still-risky pandemic, jittery financial markets and the prospect of much higher borrowing costs.Hiring gains have topped 400,000 every month since May 2021.And most economists think the winning streak has continued: According to a survey by the data firm FactSet, they expect Friday’s jobs report for April to show that employers added 400,000 more jobs last month. They have also forecast that the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%, a notch above a half-century low that was reached shortly before the pandemic struck two years ago.The resilience of the job market is particularly striking when set against the backdrop of galloping price increases, rising borrowing costs and widespread fear that the Federal Reserve's sharp interest rate hikes will eventually trigger a recession."The labor market remains in solid shape as the spring quarter begins,’’ said Stuart Hoffman, senior economic adviser at PNC Financial.

In case you are traveling abroad, you can now take the precautionary dose against Covid -19 before completing the necessary 9-month gap from the time of the 2nd dose. The recommendation came during a COVID-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) meeting earlier this week. 

WHO estimates, 4.7 million people died in India as a result of the pandemic until last year, when hospitals ran out of oxygen and beds due to a record wave driven by the Delta variant.

PTI report.

Toronto surpassed a milestone on Thursday, having now administered more than seven million COVID-19 vaccine doses to its residents.Toronto Mayor John Tory made the announcement alongside Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa at the Metro Hall vaccine clinic on Thursday.

Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, IDLES, Portishead and a number of other musicians appear in a new film about mental health called Man Down.The film, which is directed by Gemma Jennison, founder of the Man Down Programme, focuses on men working in the music industry and looks at topics such as isolation, depression and suicide.Jennison, a qualified mental health nurse based in Bristol, told BBC News that male musicians in particular were at high risk of experiencing serious mental health issues.She launched the Man Down Programme after seeing a number of people she cared about struggling with mental illness and hiding their emotions. “I wanted to look at what the trends were and why men were struggling,” she explained.“I decided that in order to do that music industries needed to be accountable or have discussions openly about what they did with artists or any of their staff about wellbeing.”The documentary will be used to address the issues it discusses through training and support programmes.A post shared by MAN DOWN PROGRAMME (@mandownprogramme_)A number of Bristol artists including Gavin Thorpe, IDLES’ Adam Devonshire and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow feature in Man Down.

COVID-19 have died and the virus put 185 more people in hospital last week, the province says.The latest data was reported Thursday in the province’s weekly epidemiology update covering April 24-30, a week that saw 1,042 new cases reported in Manitoba, down from 1,436 reported the week before. More protection could be on the way as Manitoba reports weekly COVID-19 numbers The province says on average, 840 lab-tests for COVID-19 were done every day during the week covered by the report, leaving the provincial weekly test positivity rate at 20.7 per cent.But provincial case counts and positivity rates no longer necessarily give an accurate picture of active infection rates because the government has significantly scaled back provincial testing and they don’t include the results of positive tests done at home.Since March 2020 1,819 Manitobans have died as a result of COVID-19, according to the provincial data.The province did not provide further details about the latest deaths.

COVID-19 hospitalizations and 18 additional deaths linked to the disease.The Health Department says 2,119 people are in hospital with COVID-19, after 150 people were admitted and 207 were discharged. Quebec to end mask mandate May 14, citing ‘better and better’ COVID-19 trend It says 64 people are in intensive care, a decline of 14 from the day before.Health officials say 1,416 new cases were confirmed with PCR testing and that 11.6 per cent of tests analyzed Wednesday were positive.

SARS-CoV-2 waves in over 1,30,000 Covid-19 patients.

The study, published last week in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, examined air and surface samples during an environmental surveillance programme from August 2020 until April 2021 at the University of Michigan (U-M) in the US. 

NEW DELHI :

#Omicron sub-lineages ? Here's what we know so far. Also, please remember to take #COVID19 vaccine

Chrissy Metz is opening up in a new interview for VeryWell Mind, sharing her thoughts on the upcoming end of “This Is Us” in a cover story for the work-life issue.

Though global COVID-19 cases overall continue to fall, illness levels rose in Africa and the Americas for the second week in a row, led by a trio of Omicron subvariants, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today in its weekly pandemic update.

Omicron subvariant BA.2 more transmissible but not more virulent: Quebec report He says masking will remain mandatory on public transportation and in health-care facilities.Quebec will be the last province in Canada to lift its masking requirement.

India reported 3,205 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 637 more than the previous count. On Tuesday, the country reported 2,568 new infections.

COVID-19 is killing fewer people, but Quebec still reporting dozens of deaths daily The Health Department says 7,401 workers are off the job due to COVID-19.An additional 12,968 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered Monday, including 10,640 fourth doses to people 60 and over.#COVID19 – En date du 2 mai, voici la situation au Québec: https://t.co/TG8KBlln4BEn raison de difficultés techniques, les données concernant les éclosions actives ne sont pas disponibles aujourd'hui.

WASHINGTON - A draft opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide, according to a Politico report.A decision to overrule Roe would lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states and could have huge ramifications for this year's elections.

Gates said during an interview with Financial Times, “but, the risk of a more virulent variant emerging is way above 5%."

reports. Earlier, two suspected cases of the recombinant were reported from Maharashtra and Gujarat, but both were unconfirmed. 

A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, Politico reported on Monday.

Naomi Judd died by suicide following a longtime struggle with mental health, according to a new report. The country legend took her own life on Saturday, multiple sources confirmed to People magazine.

Editor's note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

JOHANNESBURG - Researchers in South Africa have found two new Omicron sub-variants that were able to evade antibodies from previous infections and vaccinations, Reuters reported on May 1. According to a study, led by the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa, researchers found that blood samples from vaccinated individuals showed their antibody production dropped eight times when tested against the two Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, according to Reuters."The vaccinated group showed about a 5-fold higher neutralization capacity ... and should be better protected," said the study, a pre-print of which was obtained by Reuters. The new findings follow a warning from South Africa’s health minister who said last week the country has already likely entered a new wave of COVID-19 earlier than expected following a recent rise in hospitalizations and infections. The increase in new cases has been dominated by the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the omicron variant which dominated the country’s earlier wave of the virus."Whichever way you look at it, it does suggest that we may actually be entering the fifth wave much earlier," Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Friday at a televised press briefing.He said officials will be watching carefully over the next few days to determine if the increase is sustained which would confirm a new wave.A health worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine to a student during a rural vaccination drive by Broadreach NGO at Duduzile Secondary School in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

PTI report.

COVID-19 as hospitalizations continued to drop Monday.There were 2,170 patients being treated for the disease, a net decrease of 12 from the previous day. This comes after 97 admissions and 109 discharges in hospitals across the province.Intensive care unit cases related to the pandemic stood at 78, a rise of three.The daily tally included 906 new novel coronavirus cases but the count is based on results from PCR testing, which remains off limits to most of the population.

With South Africa entering the 5th wave of Covid-19 earlier than expected and India witnessing a slight rise in daily infection rate once again, experts have stressed on maintaining caution. 

Omicron variant of Covid has show two early warning signs that you might have the virus – even if you've been vaccinated.According to experts, if you feel dizzy or fatigued, you might have caught the virus – regardless of how many jabs or boosters you have had.The variant was first found in South Africa and Hong Kong in November, 2021, and came to the UK a few weeks later in December.It was thought to be a much milder strain when compared to the then-more dominant Delta strain, which had taken hold of the country at the time.According to a recent report published in infectious disease and epidemiology journal, Eurosurveillance, there were eight key symptoms experienced by a Norwegian group of fully vaccinated partygoers recently.These were a cough, runny nose, fatigue, sore throat, headache, muscle pain, fever and sneezing.The study found that cough, runny nose and fatigue were among the most common symptoms in the vaccinated individuals while sneezing and fever were least common in the milder strain of the virus.This prompted nausea to be added to the official symptoms list worldwide, as dizziness was already on it.And according to Professor Tim Spector, the man behind the much-lauded ZOE Symptom Study app, around half of all new colds are actually Covid.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up for one of our newsletters here.Fatigue can also present itself as sore or weak muscles, headaches, and even blurry vision and loss of appetite.The news of two new symptoms comes as two new variants of Omicrom were found in Bengaluru, India.According to New Indian Express, BA.2.10 and BA.2.12 were found, but not much data exists yet as these are the first sightings of the new variant.A spokesman for the

Avril Lavigne has alerted fans that three of her upcoming gigs in Canada won’t go ahead as scheduled, after a member of her touring crew tested positive for COVID-19.The affected dates include one at Place Bell in Laval – initially slated for tonight (May 2), but now set to go down on Saturday (May 7) – one at the Avenir Centre in Moncton, and one at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. Those last two gigs – which were booked in for tomorrow (May 3) and on Wednesday May 4, respectively – are yet to receive new dates, but in a statement posted on social media, Lavigne assured ticketholders that new details “will be announced shortly”.At the time of writing, Lavigne’s show at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City is still scheduled to ahead on Friday (May 6).

COVID because she had already been vaccinated four times.”But on April 13, Quart Robitaille died at age 82, less than two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. She was among the 3,325 people reported to have died in the province from the novel coronavirus since the Omicron wave started in mid-December.While vaccination and improved treatment have made COVID-19 less deadly, Quebec reported Saturday that there have been 15,000 deaths attributed to the pandemic in the province — the most in Canada.

Omicron BA.4 & BA.5, pointed out that it is also time to reconsider variant evolution.Some scientists & science communicators are convinced that one needs a new variant to cause a new wave. Delta caused a long wave with multiple lineages. Omicron is causing waves with BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 & BA.5. Time to reconsider variant evolution? Today's results for SA. https://t.co/fByGXwubtf

The risk of Covid-19 community transmission in Shanghai has been effectively controlled, said Gu Honghui, deputy secretary general of the Shanghai Municipal Government at a press briefing today.

Bill Murray on Saturday acknowledged that his behavior on set led to a complaint from a woman and the suspension of filming on his latest movie.The actor and comedian, in his first comments about the shutdown of “Being Mortal,” described the incident as a “difference of opinion” but declined to provide specifics on what transpired, or who it involved. Inappropriate behaviour complaint against Bill Murray halts ‘Being Mortal’ production: report “I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way,” he told CNBC during an interview at the annual shareholders meeting for Berkshire Hathaway.

US actor Bill Murray attends the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) Bill Murray on Saturday acknowledged that his behavior on set led to a complaint from a woman and the suspension of filming on his latest movie.The actor and comedian, in his first comments about the shutdown of "Being Mortal," described the incident as a "difference of opinion" but declined to provide specifics on what transpired, or who it involved."I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way," he told CNBC during an interview at the annual shareholders meeting for Berkshire Hathaway.

COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.According to data published today on the province’s open data website, 23 additional deaths associated with the virus were reported in the province over the past 24 hours.Quebec has recorded more deaths linked to COVID-19 than any other province in Canada.According to the open data site, 2,252 people were in hospital with COVID-19, a decline of 38 from the day before.There were 74 people in intensive care, down six from the previous day.Quebec’s interim public health director said Thursday the province has recorded more pandemic-related deaths than other Canadian jurisdictions because it has counted cases where the primary cause of death was not COVID-19.

ANI on Saturday, quoting sources. 

Celine Dion has made the tough decision to cancel her upcoming European concert dates.

UPLAND, Pa. - Very important and, for some, life-saving services will soon be ending in Delaware County and it has prompted many residents to voice their concerns. Delaware County officials are calling it a crisis.In recent weeks, the largest healthcare provider, Crozer Health, announced a series of temporary and permanent closures of services, unless it receives $24 million."It’s been my life, my career, my family," stated nurse Angela Neopolitano.

COVID-19 as the province logged 26 new deaths linked to the disease Friday.Pandemic-related hospitalizations came to a total of 2,290, a net decrease of 36. This comes after 182 admissions and 218 discharges in the last day.There were 81 people in intensive care units.