Covid: First Omicron variant case confirmed in Wales

Health & Diet Health & Diet: In The News
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It has been located in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area, and is linked to international travel.

The Welsh government said it was prepared to “respond rapidly” to the emerging variant, and actions are being taken to slow the spread. The government added there was no substantial evidence the variant would lead to a more severe illness.

“We’re likely to see more cases [of Omicron],” said Dr Eleri Davies, deputy medical director of Public Health Wales (PHW). “There’s no evidence from this first case of any further spread in the community for example, but it is likely that we will see other introductions of this new variant into Wales.” She added: “We are concerned that this new variant does have a significant number of mutations.”

Bad news for Wales … :icon_frown:

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Bad news for all of us, but it’s almost impossible to stop these virus spreading

We’ve just got to try to slow the rate it happens so the NHS doesn’t get overwhelmed and they have time to work on new vaccines and treatment

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Is it really newsworthy to report every single “first” occurrence in every country.

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Indeed … :+1:

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Eluned Morgan, the health minister, told BBC Radio Wales Sunday Supplement “Undoubtedly, we’re going to see, I would think, hundreds if not thousands more [Omicron cases] in the next few weeks so we’ve got to brace ourselves and it’s been really good to have the time to prepare for that.”

She said the focus was on “really boosting our vaccination programme, and making sure that we can try and offer now that booster programme to far more people in order to give them the best possible chance to get through the Omicron virus if they contract it”.

!Waiting times at the Emergency Unit at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales were in excess of nine hours on Saturday, with bosses saying “only attend if it is life or limb threatening”.

Now, that’s what I call pessimistic … :open_mouth: