The authorities announced the absence in Russia of a new type of coronavirus "kraken"

A new variant of the coronavirus called "kraken" has not been found in Russia. This was stated in Rospotrebnadzor, reports TASS.

“As of January 6, 2023, the omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5 Kraken has not been identified in the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement. The press service noted that, according to the World Health Organization, there are no signs that the new sub-variant of the coronavirus has a particular severity of the disease, although it is more contagious.

Omicron remains the dominant strain in Russia. As stated in Rospotrebnadzor, taking into account the peculiarities of the circulation of this subspecies of coronavirus, from March 1, 2022, “restrictive measures for various sectors of the economy were minimized, a number of anti-epidemic measures were canceled in educational organizations and other social infrastructure facilities for children and youth.”

Politico reported that a subtype of coronavirus called "kraken" has every chance to displace the now dominant "omicron" in Europe. “There is a possibility that this option could have an increasing impact on the number of cases of COVID-19 in the EU, but not within the next month, as this option is currently present in the EU only at very low levels,” the European Center said in a statement. for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

For the first time, the "kraken" was identified on October 22, 2022 in the USA . It has become "the most transmissible sub-option" and is spreading very quickly, according to the ECDC, as the number of infections "doubles every nine days".

"Kraken" has already been found in many European countries, in particular in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal.