ABSTRACT
Background: The Omicron variant B.1.1.529 has led to a new dynamic in the COVID-19 pan-demic, with an increase in cases worldwide. Its rapid propagation favors the emergence of novel sub-lineages, including BA.4 and BA.5. The latter has shown increased transmissibility compared to other Omicron sub-lineages. In Senegal, the emergence of the Omicron variant in December 2021 characterized the triggering of a short and dense epidemiological wave that peaked at the end of February. This wave was followed by a period with a significant drop in the number of COVID-19 cases, but an upsurge in SARS-CoV-2 infection has been noted since mid-June. Objective(s): The purpose of this brief report is to give an update regarding the genomic situation of SARS-CoV-2 in Dakar during this phase of recrudescence of cases. Method(s): We performed amplicon-based SARS-CoV-2 sequencing on nasopharyngeal swab samples from declared COVID-19 patients and outbound travelers that tested positive. Result(s): Ongoing genomic surveillance activities showed that more than half of recent COVID-19 cases were due to the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages that share two critical mutations associated with increased transmissibility and immune response escape. The circulation of recombinants between Omicron sub-lineages was also noted. Conclusion(s): Despite the lack of proven severity of BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages, their increased transmis-sibility causes a rapid spread of the virus, hence a surge in the number of cases. This rapid spread consti-tutes a greater risk of exposure for vulnerable patients. To tackle this issue, any increase in the number of cases must be monitored to support public health stakeholders. Therefore, genomic surveillance is an ever-essential element in managing this pandemic.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
The sudden rise in the huge number of deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) has reached news headlines from cities and states and across the country and has caused nations across the globe to take serious steps to stop the spread. Ever since the deadly disease outbreak, there has been a need to routinely check temperatures as the symptom consists of fever. Since fever is a common symptom, it increases the probability of contracting the virus. As manual temperature check is prone to human error for temperature reading and to decrease the risk factor of people getting in close contact during checking of temperature, automation is needed. The disease is spreading on a large scale with an R number of 1.2. Hence it is necessary to avoid contacting common surfaces like doorknobs which have higher possibilities of contracting the virus as the majority of people use it. So the proposed system is a contactless system that can measure the temperature of the specific person using contactless temperature sensors to make decisions for opening and closing movement of the door. The temperature limits are decided through a common high-temperature magnitude that signifies a probable case of fever. © 2021 IEEE.