To date no cases of the latest variant of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 have been recorded locally, national epidemiologist Rachel Corbett has confirmed.
However, as the US and UK battle a surge of the new strain, which has been identified as XBB.1.16 and referred to as Arcturus, Corbett said it will eventually get here.
“We’ve not seen any on island yet but I wouldn’t be surprised in the next month if we do. We typically tend to lag behind other countries reporting it in the world but I expect that it will be on island at some point and that’s just how it goes,” she said, when she appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Resh Hour.
Variant of interest
She said at the moment she is not particularly concerned by XBB.1.16 as there have not been many cases of severe illness and, at present, the original Omicron variant remains the dominant strain locally.
On Tuesday a fake email about the new variant was making the rounds.
Last week, the World Health Organization said it was currently monitoring two variants of interest, XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16.
XBB.1.16 has been reported in 37 countries; however, the WHO said at the moment, the global risk assessment for XBB.1.16 is low compared to XBB.1.5 and the other currently circulating variants.
WHO said in India and Indonesia, there has been a slight increase in bed occupancy numbers.
“However, the levels are much lower than seen in previous variant waves,” the WHO report added.
While the symptoms are no different from the previous variants, there have been reports of patients being left with pink eye after contracting the new variant.
Cayman’s COVID cases, Corbett said, have dipped, but with the lifting of mandatory reporting of positives, a clear picture of actual numbers cannot be accurately provided.
Last week, the Ministry of Health update reported that one COVID-positive person had died and 20 with the virus were admitted to hospital during March.
Corbett said it is getting difficult to differentiate COVID-related hospitalisations from patients ailing from underlying conditions who have tested positive, for the purposes of recording data.
Booster programme continues
Corbett said with the new Omicron strain making the rounds globally, it is important for the community to maintain a high level of protection.
She is encouraging those who have not been boosted to do because after a period of time the efficacy of the vaccines starts to wane.
“That’s why we’ve been having these boosters partly to boost that immunity as it wanes over time, but also as the different variants have come out… some of the latest vaccines can then target the Omicron variant particularly. We know it’s reacting to what’s spreading in the population rather than the original strain of the virus,” she added.
Though the numbers are low with the uptake in boosters, Corbett said the Health Ministry will continue to offer vaccines.
“We really want to ensure that those that are most at risk in the population, maybe that are elderly or have underlying conditions, that they have access to what they need. The booster programme will continue for now. There may be a time in the future where that’s reviewed and that’s changed in line with how we roll out other vaccines on island, but at the moment it’s continuing,” she said.
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