Scotland is experiencing another wave of Covid-19 infections as cases of two variants of Omicron increase, a public health expert said.
Professor Linda Bauld said the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 underlines. they are part of the reason for the increase in cases and a “small but not significant” increase in the number of people hospitalized.
It occurs when Covid-related deaths in Scotland doubled in one week.
However, Professor Bauld said vaccines work well in the vast majority of people, making a difference between the risk of infection and the risk of serious illness.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that around one in 40 people in Scotland had Covid-19 in the week ending June 2, more than one in 50 a week. previous.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reclassified Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lines from variants of interest to variants of concern in May.
Professor Bauld, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland: “I think from some of the data we’ve seen, it seems pretty we are definitely in another wave of infection, otherwise it will be soon and this seems to be the case in a number of countries, and this is not a big surprise because we anticipate that we would have a potentially increasing level of infections every three or four months. , this is what colleagues have said internationally. “
The JCVI recommends that residents and staff of residences, front-line workers, those aged 65 and over and adults between the ages of 16 and 64 who are clinically vulnerable be given another dose of vaccine against Covid-19 in the fall.
On Tuesday, Professor Bauld warned of the need to maintain the vaccination program and acknowledged that it is the key component of the country’s response.
Professor Bauld said people can play a key role in keeping infections low by continuing to cover their faces in crowded spaces and moving forward to get vaccinated if they have not already done so.
This week, the Scottish Covid Inquiry published a series of research papers it had commissioned on the government’s response and how it affected the pandemic in the country.
The findings include that the Scottish government was “ill-prepared” and that “discrimination” against nursing homes contributed to the death.
The investigation questioned the “legal basis” of the “severe restrictions” imposed on residences during the pandemic, such as banning any visits from loved ones and preventing residents from leaving.
Another research paper found that the health and well-being of children in Scotland was “among the lowest in Europe”.
The report, prepared by the University of Edinburgh, looked at the supply of education and certification during the pandemic and the impact it had on children and young people.
The research found that the impact of Covid contributed to mental health difficulties, which in turn has exacerbated “growing trends in poor physical health” and produced a “setback for children in Scotland”.