Subvariant BA.2 of the Omicron strain of coronavirus, which is more transmissible than BA.1, was also detected in Romania. According to a report published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), so far in Romania, 1,146 cases of COVID-19 with the Omicron variant have been confirmed, 13 of them with the BA variant.2.
Currently, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 is dominant in Romania, while the Delta version of the virus has lost ground.
According to data published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Public Health, 9,434 sequencers have been performed in Romania so far, of which 278 in the last week – January 24-30, being confirmed 8,827 COVID-19 cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC):
- Alpha variant- 1,722
- Beta – 11
- Gamma – 23
- Delta – 5,925
- Omicron – 1,146
According to INSP, the proportion of COVID cases with the Delta variant in the total number of confirmed cases with VOC continued to decrease in the last week (67.1%), compared to the previous week (69%), which is explained by the increase in the number of confirmed cases with the Omicron variant, in parallel with the decrease of those confirmed with the Delta variant.
So far, out of the 1,146 cases with the Omicron variant, 13 have been detected in the BA.2 sub-variant (1.1%).
Globally, BA.1 accounted for 98.8% of the sequenced cases recorded in the public GISAID virus monitoring database by 25 January. However, several countries are reporting recent increases in cases with the variant known as BA.2, according to the World Health Organization.
In addition to BA.1 and BA.2, the WHO stated that there are two other sub-variants under the Omicron umbrella – BA.1.1.1.529 and BA.3. All are closely related genetically, but each has mutations that could change the way it behaves.
Trevor Bedford, a virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who tracked the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, wrote on Twitter on Friday that BA.2 accounts for about 82% of COVID-19 cases in Denmark, 9% in the UK and 8% in the United States, based on its analysis of sequencing data from the GISAID database and the number of cases in the Our World in Data project at Oxford University.
The BA.2 subunit of the coronavirus strain Omicron, which quickly took control in Denmark, is more transmissible than BA.1 and more capable of infecting vaccinated people, according to a Danish study quoted by Reuters. The study, which looked at coronavirus infections in more than 8,500 Danish households between December and January, shows that people infected with the BA.2 subtype were about 33% more likely to infect others than those infected with BA.1.
“If you have been exposed to Omicron BA.2 in your household, you have a 39% chance of becoming infected within seven days. If, on the other hand, you were exposed to BA.1, the probability is 29%,” Frederik Plesner, the study’s lead author, told Reuters. This suggests that BA.2 is about 33% more infectious than BA.1, he added.