London: The UK health authorities said on Friday that they will do more research into a sub-lineage of the Omicron variation of COVID-19 after identifying it as a variant under study (VUI).
According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which monitors pandemic statistics, the sub-lineage known as BA.2 has a low number of cases in the nation, with the original Omicron lineage BA.1 still dominating.
A VUI designation is the first stage in the inquiry process before being identified as a variation of concern (VOC), which the original Omicron BA.1 is now.
“The BA.2 Omicron variant sub-lineage has been designated as a variant under investigation,” the UKHSA added.
“The number of BA.2 cases is currently low, with the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, still dominating in the UK, and additional analyses will now be carried out.” “UKHSA is closely monitoring data on the BA.2 sub-lineage,” it stated.
The sub-lineage was declared in early December of last year, and as of January 10 of this year, 53 BA.2 sequences have been found in the United Kingdom.
“It is in the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so we can expect to see new variants emerge as the pandemic progresses,” said Dr Meera Chand, UKHSA Incident Director.
“Our ongoing genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and determine their significance.” “Case rates in the UK remain high, and we must remain vigilant and increase vaccinations,” she added.
The UKHSA update comes after the country registered additional 107,364 COVID-19 infections on Thursday, after falling below 100,000 in recent days. According to the health authorities, there is now “high confidence” that the Omicron variation causes mild illness in adults.
However, confidence levels for children’s severity indicators are low since further research is needed to evaluate the risk of hospitalization between Omicron and Delta, as well as to determine the clinical character of disease in children.
“We’ll look into the small increase in the number of children admitted to hospital,” said Dr Susan Hopkins, UKHSA Chief Medical Advisor, “but coronavirus (COVID-19) currently poses a very low health risk to children and infants.”
“Preliminary data suggests that young children who are hospitalized suffer from minor illnesses and are discharged after brief stays in the hospital. “Getting your booster shot is still the most effective way to protect yourself and others from infection and severe disease,” she said, adding that testing is still a key tool in the COVID battle.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, said earlier this week that draconian COVID-19 limitations will be lifted as of next Thursday, when the so-called Plan B safeguards put in place to combat Omicron will be allowed to expire.
People will no longer be required to work from home or wear face masks as a legal requirement. Larger venues will not be obligated by law to require a COVID vaccination certificate or a negative COVID test for admittance, although they may do so if they like.
“As we return to Plan A, the House will be aware that some measures, such as those on self-isolation, remain in place.” “For those who have tested positive for COVID, it is still a legal requirement to self-isolate,” Johnson told the Commons.