Sub-variant of Omicron detected in 57 countries - WHO2 Feb 2022 11:47
Am sure this has already been touched apon but....
A sub-variant of Omicron, known as BA.2, has now been detected in 57 countries, the World Health Organization says.
The first versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.1.1 - still account for over 96% of all cases of Omicron that have been sequenced, the WHO says in its weekly epidemiological update.
But there has been an increase in cases involving the BA.2 subvariant, which has several different mutations from the original including in the spike protein.
In some countries, the subvariant now accounts for over half of all Omicron sequences gathered, the WHO says.
Several recent studies have suggested that BA.2 is more infectious than the original Omicron variant, but the WHO stresses that little is known about the sub-variant and more researched is needed to compare its characteristics.