Andalucía had one of the lowest contagion rates in Spain... until the summer brought in millions of visitors. Granada now has Andalucia's 2nd highest figures.

In Spain, the BA.4 & la BA.5 variantes are behind the surge, however what worries the health authorities is the variant Centauraus.

This highly contagious variante has emerged from India and already accounts for 20% of the reported cases.

It worries the health authorities, not because it is more harmful, but rather because it is much more contagious than the variants that have proceded it.

The World Health Organisation has detected its presence in ten countries so far, with Spain amongst them. The problem is that it is five times more contagious than Omicron, which itself made the news because of its capacity to infect people.

Centaurus was the name given to this sub-variant, BA.2.75, the first cases of which were detected in India at the beginning of June.

However, just how infectious and what affects it has on people is still far from clear, pointed out the chief scientist at the WHO, Soumya Swaminathan, “we’ll have to wait and see,” she concluded.

What we can be sure of, however, is that Covid will be with us for a long, long time and that it hasn’t simply ‘gone away.’

(News: Andalucia)