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News on the weekend
“Insanely high”: Hong Kong’s Omicron infected people have an unusually high viral load
In Minden-Lübbecke, the rush for corona tests was particularly large (symbol image)
© Christian Charisius / DPA
The news from the weekend in star-Ticker.
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The news from the weekend in star-Ticker:
9.17 a.m.: Hong Kong’s Omikron infected people have an unusually high viral load
The two confirmed Omikron infected people in Hong Kong apparently have a very rapidly increasing viral load. The PCR tests of the two men, who were negative a few days earlier, had a Ct value of 18 and 19. “That is incredibly high, especially when you consider that the two were still negative in the last PCR tests” writes the epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, who did research at Harvard University for a long time. It looks as if the variant could actually escape vaccination protection, Feigl-Ding continued.
According to the Hong Kong government, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was introduced by a traveler from South Africa who had been in a quarantine hotel since arriving on November 11. Then on November 13th he tested positive.
It is assumed that the man infected a 60-year-old in the opposite room of the quarantine hotel, despite strict isolation. This tested positive on November 18th during its fourth PCR test. In both cases, later genome sequencing made it clear that they had been infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to a statement by the Hong Kong government, the person entering from South Africa may not have worn an adequate face mask when he opened his hotel door to take food orders. This may be the reason for the infection despite quarantine isolation.
6.49 a.m.: 19 pilgrims killed in a bus accident in Mexico
19 Catholic believers were killed on a pilgrimage in Mexico. As the Mexican authorities announced, the pilgrims from the western state of Michoacán had an accident on Friday on their bus trip to a holy site. Local media published photos of the accident bus that drove into a house and was largely destroyed in the process.
19 occupants of the bus were killed, around 20 others were injured and taken to nearby hospitals. How the accident came about was initially unclear. Accidents are common on Mexico’s roads. As recently as September 16 people were killed in a collision between a bus and a truck.
2.15 a.m.: Many corona cases in arriving South Africa travelers in the Netherlands
Dozens of passengers who landed in Amsterdam from South Africa are infected with the corona virus, according to Dutch authorities. However, it has not yet been clarified whether this is the new virus variant B.1.1.529, the newspaper “De Telegraaf” quoted the health authorities on Saturday night. Follow-up examinations by the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam should show that. On Friday morning, two KLM aircraft with around 600 people on board landed at Schipohl Airport. The machines had started in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
According to the newspaper, a spokesman for the health department said there were now 110 results. Of these, 15 results are positive and 95 results are negative. Based on these results, a rate of 13.6 percent is assumed. That means that one must reckon with 85 positive cases.