It's Not going away...3 Feb 2022 13:28
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A sub-variant of the Omicron strain of coronavirus has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Known as BA.2, the sub-variant is thought to more infectious than the original Omicron variant and has a number of different mutations, but is not thought to be more deadly.
A study in Denmark, the first country where the sub-variant overtook the original, found that BA.2 might be more transmissible than the original Omicron strain and more able to infect the vaccinated, but had no difference in severity.
It has been designated a variant under investigation by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), one level lower than a variant of concern, the category which covers Omicron.
UKHSA experts have said there is not yet any evidence that BA.2 is more severe than previous strains.
BA.2 still accounts for only a small proportion of Omicron cases being recorded worldwide; the first two sub-variants of Omicron, BA.1 and BA.1.1, still make up more than 96.4 per cent of all sequenced cases.
But in some countries, BA.2 – which has been dubbed the “stealth variant” because it does not show up as clearly as previous sub-variants in the laboratory – makes up more than half of sequenced Omicron cases.
In the UK, cases of the BA.2 variant have been steadily increasing but remain low. Up to 28 January – the latest available data – a total of 4,920 cases have been recorded.