The World Health Organization is investigating two new sub-variants of the highly contagious Omicron strain of COVID-19 to determine if they pose a greater risk.
The organization announced Monday it’s tracking a few dozen cases of BA.4 and BA.5, sister variants of the original BA.1 Omicron strain.
The WHO is keeping tabs on the two subvariants to determine whether they are more dangerous — or even more infectious — than previous strains because of their “additional mutations.”
Omicron’s original variant has already mutated multiple times. The second mutation of the Omicron strain, known as BA.2, now represents nearly 94% of all global cases and is more contagious than other sub-strains.
The organization is monitoring a few dozen BA.4 cases in South Africa, Denmark, Botswana, Scotland and England. The cases have been reported from Jan. 10 to March 30.
BA.5 cases, meanwhile, have been reported in both South Africa and Botswana.
Botswana’s health ministry said Monday that it has identified four cases of BA.4 and BA.5. The four infected individuals were fully vaccinated and experiencing mild symptoms.
With Post wires
