NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM: A highly infectious subvariant of omicron has fueled a backlog of COVID-19 cases in Kazakhstan. However, most COVID-19 patients have mild symptoms, Kazinform of the Ministry of Health learned.
According to the ministry, the effects of recent genetic testing showed that the subvariant omicron BA. 5 was to blame for 70% of the samples studied in Kazakhstan. This subvariant is thought to be more transmissible and has mild symptoms compared to the Delta strain. This is evidenced by the fact that more than 94% of recent COVID-19 patients are treated at home.
“Of those being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, 36% are young people under the age of 18 and 64% are adults,” Health Minister Azhar Giniyat told the government meeting on Tuesday.
“The number of ambulance calls for patients with COVID-19 symptoms has decreased 3. 7 times from last year,” Giniyat added.
Earlier, Health Minister Azhar Giniyat said the occurrence of COVID-19 had recently increased 3. 2-fold in Kazakhstan.