Barbados’ high public well being official has moved to reassure the general public following the emergence of a brand new COVID-19 variant, stressing that whereas the pressure is extra contagious, it doesn’t seem to trigger extra extreme sickness than earlier variations of the virus.
Talking at a press briefing on the Pan American Well being Organisation (PAHO) regional headquarters on Dayrells Street, Senior Medical Officer of Well being Dr Leslie Rollock mentioned the brand new variant—NB.1.8.1—is extra transmissible however no more virulent.
“As you’d bear in mind, the coronavirus that brought about COVID-19 is frequently altering. It’s turning into increasingly transmissible, simpler to cross from individual to individual,” Dr Rollock defined. “This new variant that has been found is, in fact, extra transmissible, however in itself it’s not extra virulent.”
The World Well being Organisation (WHO) has designated NB.1.8.1 as a “variant below monitoring” amid rising case numbers, notably in the US, a key supply marketplace for Barbados.
Dr Rollock famous that though the sickness attributable to the variant is just not essentially extra harmful than earlier strains like Delta, the elevated charge of transmission might lead to extra folks being contaminated—posing a better danger for the medically weak.
“It’s not due to the virulence of the virus; it’s due to the state of the one who would have gotten it,” she mentioned.
The Ministry of Well being is protecting a detailed eye on worldwide developments, notably in nations with excessive journey volumes to Barbados in the course of the busy summer season season.
“For the common particular person, it’s not a difficulty,” Dr Rollock added. “However what we often advise is that those that are extra weak—in case you have a weak particular person in your own home and you’ve got a cough, chilly, runny nostril—when you’ve got interactions with them, you put on a masks. Whenever you’re going out and also you don’t know who you’re going to satisfy, you attempt to do your regular cough etiquette: cowl your coughs and your sneezes, wash your arms and maintain your unwashed arms out of your eyes, your nostril and your mouth.”
She in contrast the present trajectory of COVID-19 to that of the frequent chilly, cautioning that whereas the virus could also be milder general, it could actually nonetheless result in severe sickness in high-risk people.
“This new virus by itself is just not a difficulty as a result of it’s not as virulent as Delta was. It’s coming right down to the purpose that it is likely to be for us just like the frequent chilly, however you recognize the frequent chilly could cause extreme illness in those that are weak. In order that’s the place we’re at with respect to this new variant,” Dr Rollock mentioned.
