Dr. Jovanovic for Telegraf.rs: Omicron took over as dominant strain in Serbia after New Year

"Until December 31, we had 30 percent Omicron and 70 percent Delta cases, and entered the New Year that way. After the New Year, we have been discovering mostly Omicron in Covid clinics," Professor Dr. Tanja Jovanovic from the Faculty of Medicine has told Telegraf.rs in an interview

Omicron, a strain of coronavirus, has taken over as the dominant strain in Serbia as well, Professor Dr. Tanja Jovanovic from the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade, a virologist and member of the Crisis HQ for the fight against coronavirus has told Telegraf.rs. She says that in addition to Omicron, Delta is also still present.

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"We have data until December 31 when we had 30 percent Omicron and 70 percent Delta cases, and entered the New Year that way. Then, a few days after the New Year and the celebrations, a lot of people started coming to Covid clinics, and now, we are mostly discovering Omicron. I can't say the exact percentage because we haven't finished (analyzing data) yet, but in any case, it has taken over as the dominant one. However, in addition to Omicron, we also have the Delta strain," Professor Dr. Tanja Jovanovic told Telegraf.rs.

She said that now not only samples taken from travelers who arrive from seven high-risk and countries with the virus transmission are tested.

"Now samples are taken from other patients as well, not only from those who entered the country, but according to the principle of random selection," Professor Dr. Jovanovic explained to us.

Omicron arrived in Serbia on December 23. As Jovanovic told our portal at the time, it had been confirmed in a family of four who arrived from Botswana.

Nearly a week later, this strain was already diagnosed in a dozen patients, and mostly in those, as the professor told us, who came from Great Britain and France.

In addition to coronavirus, two types of influenza are circulating in Serbia - type A (H3) and A (H1)pdm09.

As we have already reported, the flu is present in Belgrade, where it was first discovered, then in Nis, Novi Pazar and Uzice, but its activity is still low.

Flurona, a simultaneous infection with influenza and coronavirus, which has been reported in Croatia, the Serb Republic, Israel and England, has not yet been confirmed in our country.

Otherwise, according to the latest data from yesterday at 3 pm, coronavirus was detected in 8,949 people in Serbia in 24 hours.

Dr. Predrag Kon, an epidemiologist, warned last night that these numbers will soon go into five digits.

"We will have five-digit numbers for sure, and that means, (we'll go) as far as we can go. It could be tens of thousands of cases. What's good is that far fewer people get hospitalized daily. It's seven to eight times less compared to November and December, and that is the only thing that can save us. But we also have a lot of pressure on Covid clinics and on primary healthcare. The circulation of the virus is higher than ever, as is the possibility of becoming infected with the Omicron strain," Kon stressed and explained:

"In the next two weeks, we will have an increase in the number of infected people, this is a new disease, the incubation of the virus has been shortened, it is now about three days. The contagiousness is many times greater than it used to be. It is no secret that those who are vaccinated also get infected. It's essential to keep the distance of a meter and a half, if you can't control that, then you must wear a mask."

(Telegraf.rs)