ba.5 and ba.2.25: what do these omicron strains mean?
there are a number of omicron strains identified, with confusing names like ba.5 and ba.2.75. learn about the most talked-about strains.
the study, published in the lancet , compared 23 symptoms experienced by more than 4,000 people who had had covid with just over 8,000 people who had not had the virus. the researchers found that chest pain, muscle pain, trouble breathing, loss of sense of smell or taste, body temperature dysregulation, heaviness in arms or legs and general fatigue were common in people who had contracted covid. the symptoms reached peak levels three months after infection, and didn’t lessen from there, leading the researchers to conclude that these were the core signs of long covid. on the other hand, other symptoms, like headache, dizziness, nausea, back pain and itchy eyes didn’t significantly increase.
the study also found that 21 per cent of people who had previously had covid had one of those core symptoms increase significantly at least three months after they had recovered from covid. similar symptoms were found in only nine per cent of people who hadn’t contracted the virus. this means that, “in 12.7 per cent of covid-19 patients their new or severely increased symptoms three months post-covid can be attributed to sars-cov-2 infection,” researchers said in a press release.
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health canada has warned that several fake covid testing kids have been found in ontario. they look like the legitimate rapid response tests in the light green boxes — but according to cbc news , there a few signs that tell you they’re not the real deal.
while the real boxes are sealed with transparent stickers that say “qc approved,” the fakes are not. they purport to be legit with text that reads “ official canadian distributor” and “health canada approved.” the real boxes don’t include this wording.
health canada said in a statement that the fake tests had been sold online, from the manufacturer “health advance inc.” the website of the distributor, which was listed as “healthful plus,” is no longer active. the person who bought the original shipment of 435 test boxes sent it to health canada, and the agency said there’s no reason to believe other fake test kits are being distributed elsewhere in the country. still, it’s important to check, they added.
thousands and thousands of tourists are stranded in the southern chinese beach town sanya after local authorities locked them down in an attempt to control the spread of covid.
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authorities in sanya, sometimes called “china’s hawaii,” locked the area down on saturday after several hundred covid cases were confirmed in the area, the associated press reported . flights and train trips were canceled, and some hotels offered discounts to guests who had no choice but to prolong their vacations. in order to leave the region, tourists will have to get negative results on at least five pcr tests over a seven-day period.