“The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) reported the whole genome sequencing results for two Covid-19 cases with XBB.1.5 late last week,” the ministry said in a statement this afternoon.
The ministry said the detection of the XBB.1.5 in New Zealand was not unexpected following its recent detection in Australia and around the world.
“Our Covid-19 response accounts for the emergence of new variants,” the ministry said.
“So far, most Omicron variants have not demonstrated a change in severity of the disease, and there is no evidence at this stage to indicate XBB.1.5 causes more severe disease compared to other variants.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled the strain as “the most transmissible sub-variant that has been detected yet". XBB. 1.5 has caused large numbers of infections in the US. It’s also been detected in Australia, the UK and several European countries including Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 40 percent of the country’s infections have been caused by XBB.1.5.
Last week, NSW Health also confirmed the new strain had been detected in “small numbers” across the state.
University of Auckland associate professor Dr Siouxsie Wiles told RNZ the new strain was spreading rapidly across the globe.
”The reason people are concerned about it is because it has a number of mutations better able to infect and evade immunity from vaccines.”
Wiles said New Zealand had tools to reduce the impact of the new strain.
”It’s becoming the dominant variant in the next few weeks and as we have seen, often by the time it is identified in a country, it moves.”
She told RNZ masks and proper ventilation remained the best weapons to fight the virus, as eradicating it from the air was the best way to control it.
“We have tools that will prevent transmission and sickness from Covid-19 and they work against all variants.”Her advice was simple.
“I would be advising people to wear masks on public transport and planes, malls, supermarkets, wherever you are around people.”
As with previous strains, Wiles said people’s experiences were very different, with some getting very ill and others largely unaffected.
The new strain is a new version of the Omicron variant and first emerged in New York.
It has quickly exploded across the state and into the New England region, as well as in the UK.
Harvard-trained US epidemiologist Dr Eric Feigl-Ding last week shared a series of alarming posts on Twitter regarding the so-called “super variant”, warning it was “among most immunity-evasive ‘escape variants’ to date” and that it was “one of the best variants for invading human cell” and also “spreads much faster” than older strains.
He described it as the “next big one”, and slammed the CDC for “royally screwing up” by failing to warn people of the danger for weeks on end.
”Hospitalisations [are] already approaching last winter’s crazy Omicron levels. These numbers do not include Veterans Affairs hospitals – and it’s missing several states. So it could be worse,” he said.
- with RNZ
