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THE reduced severity of Omicron is good news for now, but it is the result of an “evolutionary mistake” as Covid-19 is transmitting very e ciently and there is no reason for it to become milder, indicating that the next variant could be more virulent, a leading scientist from the University of Cambridge has warned.

Ravindra Gupta, Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for erapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CITIID), led a recent study on the Omicron variant and was among the rst globally to describe the modi ed fusion mechanism of cells at play which might make Omicron more visible to the body’s immune defences.

While the study showed that the new variant is infecting the cells found in the lungs less, the virus itself is not intending to become milder.

“ ere is this assumption that viruses become more benign over time but that’s not what’s happening here because those are long-term evolutionary trends,” Prof. Gupta said.

“Covid-19 does not have that issue because it is transmitting very e ciently so it doesn’t have any reason to become milder, especially in the era of vaccination with plenty of susceptible hosts. So that’s why I think it’s an evolutionary mistake. It’s not something intentional that the virus is trying to do to change its biology,” he explained.

“ is nding of reduced severity with Omicron is obviously good news for now but the next variant that comes, and there will be one, will not necessarily have these characteristics and could go back to the severity that we’ve seen before.

According to the UK-born scientist, who advises the UK government’s Scienti c Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and New and Emerging Respiratory Virus reats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), keeping up the vaccination drive is important because that remains “our rst line of defence” against the virus.

“While we have a situation of a milder variant, we should use that as a chance to increase vaccination coverage,” he said.

“Caution is needed and focus on infection transmission interruption and vaccination are so important.”

According to Gupta’s study into Omicron, there seems to be a di erence between its impact on the deep tissues in the lung and the upper airways or bronchus. is is down to the presence of a particular protein or enzyme which is sitting on the surface of the cells in the lung called TMPRSS2, which prevents the virus from completing an ef cient infection.

“So, two pathways are available to the virus and Omicron prefers one pathway rather than the other and because of that choice, that pathway is more dominant in the upper airways where implications for oxygenation and lung function are milder compared to if things are going on deep into your lungs,” he explains.

As the Omicron variant does not engage the TMPRSS2 very e ciently, its ability to cause large fused cells is impaired. is fusion mechanism of making larger cells is a way that the virus can help itself avoid neutralising antibodies and by not being able to fuse, Omicron might make itself more visible to the immune system.

“It’s a bit unclear. But it’s very real and it’s very related to what we call a tropism (behavioural) switch. e big question is why the virus is unable to use TMPRSS2. We are still trying to understand this for some reason, Omicron’s spike is less well processed or cleaved,” said Gupta. e virus needs to be cleaved, or cut in two, in order for it to perform its functions optimally and Omicron seems to have lost some aspect of its function.

“But if it’s replicating in the upper airways, passing very e ciently, it ful lls the goal of transmission much more e ectively than if it were infecting deep tissues, which is probably an evolutionary mistake for the virus,” saidd Gupta.

As a result, his team’s focus now is on further studying why this evolutionary mistake occurred and to understand the biology of the virus better to help with more e ective and e cient future courses of drugs and vaccines.

Milder Omicron an ‘evolutionary mistake’, says Cambridge scientist

Another new variant pops up in Cyprus

A NEW coronavirus variant nicknamed ‘Deltacron’ has been discovered in Cyprus, according to local media. e variant has a similar genetic background to the Delta variant, as well as some of the mutations from Omicron, explained Dr Leondios Kostrikis, the head of the laboratory of biotechnology and molecular virology at the University of Cyprus, according to the Cyprus Mail.

In total, 10 of the mutations from Omicron were found in the 25 samples taken in Cyprus. 11 of the samples came from people who were hospitalised due to the virus, while 14 came from the general population.

Dr Kostrikis said that the fact that the frequency of the mutation among hospitalised patients was higher could point to a correlation between the new variant and hospitalisations.

Cyprus’s Health Minister Michalis Hadjipandelas said that the new variant was not something to worry about at the moment and expressed pride in the country’s scientists for discovering the new variant.

“ e groundbreaking research and ndings of Dr Kostrikis’ team make us proud of our scientists as this research puts Cyprus on the international map when it comes to health matters,” said Minister Hadjipandelas, according to the Cyprus Mail.

Cyprus’s Health Ministry plans to announce more information about the new variant soon. e scienti c name of the new variant has not been announced as of yet. e announcement of the new variant comes just a week after a new coronavirus variant, B.1.640.2, was discovered in France. Experts have stated that it seems not to be a cause of concern.

BY DOUGLAS BROOM

HOW do you feel about the prospects for 2022? Despite the arrival of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, people around the world are feeling surprisingly positive about the new year, according to a global survey.

Ipsos asked 22,000 adults in 33 countries to give their personal predictions for 2022. Although concerns persist about rising prices and the environment, most people felt things would be better in the New Year.

“Hope springs eternal,” said Antonia Lopez from Ipsos. “As is normal, three quarters (77%) expect a better year in 2022, ranging from 54% of Japanese saying they are optimistic that 2022 will be a better year for them than it was in 2021 to 94% of Chinese.”

When people were asked at the end of 2020, 90% said it had been a bad year for their country. Responding to the same question at the end of 2021, the gure had dropped to 77%. In 2021, 56% said it had been a bad year for them and their families compared to 90% in 2020.

New Year resolutions remain popular, with three quarters of people globally planning to set a goal for 2022. Only in Japan (44%) and Sweden (23%) are people setting resolutions in the minority.

Here are some of the reasons why people around the globe say they are optimistic about life in 2022.

1. PROGRESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID19

Covid-19 is not an obvious cause for optimism, but the progress of vaccination programmes is giving people hope that things will improve. More than half of those questioned believed that over 80% of the world’s population would receive at least one dose of a vaccine in 2022.

People in Latin America were most positive with 81% of Peruvians, 76% Brazilians and 69% of Chileans expecting vaccination success in 2022. Europeans were more sceptical. Just 42% in France thought the 80% target was achievable, 38% in Switzerland and 33% in Germany.

Five reasons to be cheerful for this year

2. THE ENVIRONMENT

Although people around the world expect extreme weather events caused by global warming to intensify in 2022, especially in those European countries badly a ected by ooding in 2021, there was more optimism about the readiness of people to take action to halt it.

More than two fths (45%) expect fewer people to y in 2022 than in 2019, with those in Asia expressing the strongest view that habits will change – 68% in China, 67% in Singapore and 66% in Malaysia.

3. SOCIETY

Almost a third of people around the world expect their society to become more tolerant as a result of the events of the last two years. is feeling is strongest in China, where 83% expect increased tolerance in 2022 although only 9% of people in France agree.

More than seven in 10 (71%) think city centres will become more vibrant as people return to working in o ces in 2022. Nine out of 10 (87%) people in China say this is likely to happen as do four in ve (78%) in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.

4. THE ECONOMY

Optimism about the state of the global economy is picking up. People have greater expectations for stock market stability in 2022 than they did in 2021, when 40% said major stock markets around the world were likely to crash.

Although three quarters of people around the world expect prices in their countries to rise faster than incomes, over two fths (42%) think a stock market crash is unlikely.

5. ALIEN INVASION

Of course, there’s still plenty to worry about in 2022. But according to the survey, alien invasion is not top of most people’s lists – only 14% thought it was likely although almost a third of people in India are expecting to greet visitors from another planet.

Meanwhile, 39% of people say they expect a natural disaster to a ect a city in their country, 38% thought hackers from a foreign power might bring down their IT systems, 34% thought nuclear weapons might be used and 27% feared rogue arti cial intelligence.

Republished with permission of the World Economic Forum. Read the original article.

‘Meanwhile, 39% say they expect a natural disaster...”

WATERFORD Institute of Technology (WIT) is running a virtual open day on Friday and Saturday, January 14 and 15, to help students ahead of the CAO deadline.

WIT’s Registrar and Vice President Dr Derek O’Byrne said: “At WIT we pride ourselves on our ‘right student, right programme’ ethos and open days are a key milestone in helping students gure out if a course or college is for them. Our team have worked very hard to give virtual attendees the best virtual experience of WIT that they can at www.wit.ie/ openday.”

Kilkenny Leaving Cert students will be interested in virtually attending the schoolsfocused open day on Friday (10am-2pm).

Teachers, parents/guardians, and prospective students are welcome across both days, with parents and guardians expected to be interested in attending virtually on Saturday morning.

Typically two thirds of WIT graduates are from the south east and typically 1 in 4 Co Kilkenny college-going school leavers attend WIT.

Jess Lawton, Marketing & Outreach O cer at WIT said: “Our recent online parents’ event gave parents and guardians a head start on making an application for the CAO. We welcome parents to again join us on Saturday and take the opportunity to view the facilities via a virtual campus tour, attend talks and ask questions so they can support the decisions their child makes.

WIT and Institute of Technology Carlow are working towards creating a technological university which will be established by May 1 meaning students applying to study at WIT through the CAO will start in, and graduate from a technological university.

Claire Holden, Schools’ liaison & Outreach O cer at WIT said: “We would like to reassure applicants the CAO entry to our 70 CAO courses remains unchanged for 2022 entry. e CAO application codes will remain as WD200 for example and can be found at www.wit.ie/courses or on the CAO website under Waterford Institute of Technology.”

According to e Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 published in November 2021, WIT was placed as the top institute of technology in the annual ranking, and has stayed in the top 10 for a number of years. e range of 70 CAO courses contains many standalone and specialist courses.

WIT’s dedicated CAO website is www.wit.ie/cao

WIT’s student stories portal is at www.wit.ie/studentstories

A selection of booklets and worksheets to download are available at www.wit.ie/how. e virtual open day website is at www.wit.ie/openday.

Virtual open day helps applicants ahead of CAO deadline 10 years on, 10,00 ights, and 3m. passengers THE world’s largest international airline, Emirates, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Ireland. Since the inaugural ight on January 9, 2012, Emirates has carried more than 2.8 million passengers on 10,000 ights between Dublin and Dubai. “When we launched in Ireland 10 years ago, we were in the midst of a global recession and today, as we mark a major milestone, we are in the middle of a global pandemic,” said Enda Corneille, country manager Emirates, Ireland. e Dublin route launch has been one of the airline’s most successful in its 37-year history and, despite having to scale back operations as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Enda Corneille is con dent that frequencies will ramp up as travel demand gradually returns.