As everyone is struggling their way through the spread of Omicron, a new sub variant, BA.1 has made yet another dramatic entry. As per reports it is highly contiguous in comparison to the other coronavirus variants and has been identified in more than 40 countries globally.
The PANGO directory of coronaviruses, updated by scientists from Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge has listed Denmark as the most affected area with 79% cases, followed by India 5%, Britain 6%, Sweden 2%, and Singapore 2%.
However, the variant is under surveillance but the fast spread of the new subtype indicates that it could be more contagious than the other Omicron sub types. Meera Chand, Incident Director at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says, “It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it’s to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge as the pandemic goes on. So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether BA.2 causes more severe illness than omicron BA.1.”
Although many countries are reducing the restriction level, vaccination remains very important in every phase. The U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid says that the emergence of the new variant shows the continued importance of vaccination: "I encourage you to give yourself and your loved ones the best protection possible and get boosted now."
In India, the daily positivity rate is at 15.88% and more than 2.51 lakh (2,51,209) new coronavirus cases and 627 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, ending at 9 am on Friday. With 627 deaths and 3,47,443 recoveries, active cases have declined to 21.05 lakh (21,05,611).
