RE: Utter tosh on a thread9 Dec 2021 22:38
borrowfundsfrommummy,
This is a bit more on PCR tests and Omicron and its dirty little sister / sub-variant
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-new-version-of-the-covid-omicron-variant-ba2-is-a-sneaky-little-bastard?ref=home?ref=home
There’s a new form of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus—one that experts say is hard to distinguish from the Delta variant using standard polymerase chain reaction, or PCR tests.
The appearance of this sneaky “BA.2” subvariant—“sublineage,” is the scientific term—is the latest development in the still-developing crisis that the baseline BA.1 Omicron sparked after health officials in South Africa confirmed the new lineage, with its dozens of key mutations, two weeks ago.
The hard-to-distinguish BA.2 sublineage is also a forceful reminder to the unvaccinated to get vaccinated, and the unboosted to get boosted. There’s a lot we don’t know about Omicron and its sublineages, but early signs are that the leading vaccines still work just fine against them. And, of course, all the jabs work even better with a booster shot.
Scientists first detected the sneaky BA.2 a few days ago after genetically sequencing a batch of test samples that officials in South Africa, Australia and Canada collected. So far, the subvariant has been identified in 30 countries and six continents.