Rospotrebnadzor expert noted an increase in cases of "stealth omicron" in Russia

Russians are more likely to be infected with the omicron BA.2 variant of the coronavirus, and there has been a slow increase. This was announced by the head of the scientific group for the development of new diagnostic methods based on sequencing technologies of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor Kamil Khafizov, RIA Novosti reports.

“In Russia, the share of BA.2 is also slowly growing and now accounts for 7.4% of all identified cases of omicron,” Khafizov said.

Scientists called the main symptoms of "stealth omicron" Society

The BA.2 mutation was found in three residents of the city of Uppsala in southern Sweden in January. Later, the subspecies was found in Denmark, Norway, Indian Calcutta and Great Britain. World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Maria Van Kerkhove called BA.2 more contagious than the original BA.1 strain. However, there is no evidence that it is more difficult to tolerate.

The first case of infection with subspecies BA.2 was detected in Russia on January 13, said the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova. In early February, she noted that this subspecies in Russia accounts for about 3% of infections. "Stealth-omicron" was found among residents of Moscow, the Rostov region, the Republic of Mari El and Bashkiria.

How the number of hospitalizations with coronavirus in Russia is changing The number of hospitalized and diagnosed cases per day. The operational headquarters began to provide open regular statistics on hospitalizations from January 20, 2022 Source: federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus Data for Russia i