A new subtype of omicron, the latest strain of the Covid-19 virus, has been identified.
426 infected persons from that strain have been found in England.
The new variant is called BA.2.
The UK Healthcare Agency says the new omicron subtype is being researched as an ‘investigated variant’.
The areas with the highest number of confirmed cases of the new subtype are 146 in London and 97 in the Southeast UK.
There is no warning yet that the new subtype is more severe than omicron.
Preliminary studies in Denmark say that this does not increase the risk of hospitalization.
However, there is some evidence that the variant is more transmissible.
They also found that early analyzes appeared to have a higher growth rate compared to the original Omicron strain BA.1.