The Air Rescue Team of FEMERAID International informs all our members, Knights and Dames of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, Federation of the Autonomous Priories (KMFAP) about the followings:
After 2.5 years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the most contagious and transmissible variant has arrived.
Repeated waves of COVID-19 left millions of people dead with only vaccines helping to dampen the toll. Now the virus is spreading again, evolving, eluding immunity and leading to a spike in cases and hospitalizations. The latest version of its shape-shifting is BA.5. It is a clear sign that the pandemic is far from over, as we previously wrote.
This newest Omicron variant, along with a closely related variant, BA.4, is causing a global spike in cases: 30% in the past fortnight, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In Europe, the Omicron subvariants account for an increase in cases of around 25%. The numbers may actually be higher since most people do not test or test at home.
The BA.5 is on the rise in China, which could soon lead to new lockdown measures that were only recently lifted. The same variant has become the dominant strain in the United States, where it accounted for 65% of new infections last week.
This is not a wave – it’s a tsunami. Go back to the old measures – masks, social distancing, frequent hand washing and avoiding gatherings.
Keep safe.
18th July 2022