Australia is facing the continued emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants more than five years after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.
The latest strain, designated LP.8.1, is rapidly gaining ground in New South Wales, accounting for nearly one in five COVID-19 cases, according to SBS News.
First detected in July 2024, LP.8.1 is a descendant of the Omicron lineage—specifically from KP.1.1.3, which traces its roots back to JN.1, a subvariant responsible for significant global infection waves in late 2023 and early 2024. In January, the World Health Organization designated LP.8.1 as a variant under monitoring in response to its notable global spread, though its additional public health risk is currently assessed as low.
Health officials report that the symptoms associated with LP.8.1 are no more severe than those seen with other circulating strains. This assessment comes as Australia records nearly 45,000 new COVID-19 cases this year, with approximately 260 patients currently hospitalized. Experts caution that the true number of infections is likely higher due to reduced testing and underreporting.
Current COVID-19 vaccines, including the most recent JN.1 booster shots, are expected to continue offering strong protection against symptomatic and severe illness caused by LP.8.1. As the country adapts to this evolving viral landscape, public health authorities emphasize the importance of vaccination and vigilant monitoring of emerging variants.
The ongoing developments underscore the challenges faced by health officials worldwide as they balance reopening strategies with the risk of new variants, even as global attention gradually shifts away from the acute phase of the pandemic.
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A major Japanese battery maker has stopped construction on a $1.6 billion plant in South Carolina, citing “policy and market uncertainty” tied to electric vehicles and global trade.
Germany’s new government has launched a major program aimed at boosting investment and helping Europe’s largest economy recover after two years of decline.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
A local dive team has solved a nearly 140-year-old maritime mystery by identifying the wreck of the SS Nantes off the coast of Devon.
India’s central bank made a bigger-than-expected interest rate cut, lowering the repo rate by half a percent to 5.5%, the lowest level in three years.
As peace talks progress, voices from Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Baku reveal hopes, concerns, and expectations for a future shaped by trade, trust, and generational change in the South Caucasus.
A bridge collapse in the Vygonichsky district of Russia’s Bryansk region, near the Ukrainian border, caused a train derailment and a traffic accident early Sunday, killing at least seven people and leaving 30 injured, according to emergency services.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has confirmed it carried out a third targeted attack against the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, early Tuesday morning, marking a new escalation in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
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US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to ease restrictions on American drones and help the industry compete with China.
Vietnam has officially abolished its long-standing two-child policy in a bid to counter declining birth rates and a shrinking workforce.
China has achieved a significant medical milestone, with its drug regulator announcing the approval of the country's first domestically developed 9-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
Radionuclide therapy using the radioactive element terbium shows promising potential in treating lymphoma, according to recent experimental results from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in collaboration with Inselspital – Bern University Hospital.
A groundbreaking study presented at ASCO reveals that AstraZeneca’s experimental pill camizestrant, when used based on blood test results, can halve the risk of breast cancer progression or death—potentially reshaping treatment for patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer
A major Japanese battery maker has stopped construction on a $1.6 billion plant in South Carolina, citing “policy and market uncertainty” tied to electric vehicles and global trade.
Germany’s new government has launched a major program aimed at boosting investment and helping Europe’s largest economy recover after two years of decline.
]The third annual AI Film Festival opened Thursday night in New York, offering a glimpse into what artificial intelligence can now do on the big screen.
A local dive team has solved a nearly 140-year-old maritime mystery by identifying the wreck of the SS Nantes off the coast of Devon.
India’s central bank made a bigger-than-expected interest rate cut, lowering the repo rate by half a percent to 5.5%, the lowest level in three years.
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