The ‘Centaurus’ subvariant of COVID-19 Omicron strain has been detected in Russia, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) press office told reporters Tuesday.
"Five genome sequences, classified as BA.2.75 (‘Centaurus’) variant of the Omicron strain, have been uploaded to the VGARus database. The [biological] material was taken in Moscow in July. All patients have light symptoms. Nobody was hospitalized," the press office said.
Earlier, this subvariant was detected in Denmark, Canada, New Zealand and the US. According to infectious disease doctor Yevgeny Timakov, the BA.2.75 subvariant is at least 16% more contagious than the previous BA.2 subvariant, but it does not pose any serious danger.
