Omicron Sub-Variant Could Be More Infectious, Found In 57 Countries: WHO

Geneva: Subvaria of the very contagious Omicron Coronavirus tension, which some studies can be more contagious than the original version, have been detected in 57 countries, WHO said Tuesday.

Omicron variants that spread fast and very mutated have quickly become a dominant variant throughout the world because they were first detected in South Africa 10 weeks ago.

In the update of its weekly epidemiology, the World Health Organization said that variants, which accounted for more than 93 percent of all coronavirus specimens collected in the past month, counting several sub-lineages: BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA .3.

BA.1 and BA.1.1 – The first version identified – still explains more than 96 percent of all Omicron order uploaded to the GISAID Global Science Initiative, he said.

But there has been a clear increase in cases involving BA.2, which calculates several different mutations from the original – including the surge protein that drips the surface of the virus and is the key to entering human cells.

“BA.2 – The designated sequences have been submitted to GISAID from 57 countries to date,” Who said, adding that in some countries, sub-variants now contribute more than half of all Omicron sequences collected.

The UN health agency said a little known about the difference between sub-variants, and called for studies into its characteristics, including the transmission, how good it was to avoid the protection of immune and virulence.

Some of the latest studies have signaled that BA.2 is more contagious than original omicron.

Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the Top WHO experts in Covid, told reporters Tuesday that information about sub-variants was very limited, but that some of the data inital showed BA.2 has a “little increase at the growth rate of BA.1”

Omicron is generally known to cause diseases that are less severe than previous Coronavirus variants such as Delta, and Van Kerkhove said there so far is “there is no indication that there is a severe change” in the sub-variant BA.2.

He stressed that regardless of the tension, Covid remains a dangerous disease and people must try to avoid arresting him.

“We need people to realize that this virus continues to circulate and continue to evolve,” he said.