Rospotrebnadzor counted 611 omicron genovariants in Russia

More than 600 different genovariants of the omicron-strain coronavirus circulate in Russia, said Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Gorelov, Deputy Director for Research at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor.

“611 omicron genovariants circulate on the territory of the Russian Federation. That is, the process of modification and evolution of the virus continues. And it is clear that this summer we will not put an end to it, ” TASS quotes Gorelov .

As reported on Monday at the federal operational headquarters for combating infection, 6622 new cases of COVID were recorded in Russia per day , the number of deaths was 34.

In January 2023, the director of the Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamalei Alexander Gintsburg said that dozens of hybrids of the omicron-strain of coronavirus are circulating in Russia, which are not similar to this variant, TASS said.

“The diversity that is now present and surrounds us is already dozens of different strains that cause a similar disease with a coronavirus infection. The types of the omicron strain that are currently circulating, these recombinants with the letter X, are very different from the original omicron,” he said.

According to Gunzburg, hybrids arose during the genetic exchange of various strains of the virus and therefore it is incorrect to attribute them to subspecies of "omicron".