Omicron forecast to be dominant covid strain by month-end

The number of cases of the omicron variant of covid-19  in Panama doubles every two or three days and will replace  delta as  the dominant strain by the end of the month but the positive impact of vaccination is apparent say health experts,

The last epidemiological week of 2021 (December 26 to January 1), 10,604 new cases of the Covid-19 disease were confirmed , 6,063 more infections than those recorded in the previous week

Epidemiological reports from the Ministry of Health (Minsa) , show that those hospitalized in the ward and intensive care units totaled 188, that is, 23 more than the previous week.

Although hospitalizations in the ward and intensive care units increased, the positive impact of vaccination is evident, because for the last week of 2020 – a total of 2,279 patients were hospitalized in the ward and in ICU.

The acceleration of Covid-19 cases in the country coincided with the arrival of  omicron and the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The infectologist, pediatrician and clinical researcher Xavier Sáez-Llorens, said that every two to three days the number of new cases infected by omicron doubles.

An example that new cases of Covid-19 with the Omicron variant are doubled is evident with the figures reported by the Minsa, since Panama reported 977 new infections of Covid-19 on January 2, of which 55 corresponded to the Omicron variant.

The first case with this lineage was reported on December 19 and until December 24 there are already nine and 17 under investigation, by the Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies (Icges).

He added that without a doubt before the end of January, the Omicron variant will be predominant and will potentially displace the Delta.