Health

New Omicron Variant Found In S’pore, Findings Show BA.2 To Be More Contagious

198 Cases Of New BA.2 Omicron Sub-Variant Found In Singapore

Singapore is currently in the midst of an Omicron wave, with daily cases exceeding 5,000 over recent days.

On Friday (28 Jan), the Ministry of Health (MOH) reported an interesting development — a sub-variant of the Omicron strain had been detected among cases in Singapore.

Known as the BA.2 sub-variant, 198 of such cases have been detected in Singapore as of 25 Jan. The majority of these cases are imported from overseas.

BA.2 variant more contagious than Omicron

According to a report by Channel NewsAsia (CNA), a total of 48 local and 150 imported cases in Singapore have the new BA.2 Omicron sub-variant.

According to the Danish Health Minister, the sub-variant is more contagious than the more common BA.1 variant.

Statens Serum Institut, a Danish research institution, found in preliminary studies that the BA.2 sub-variant is about 1.5 times more infectious than the BA.1 strain.

However, there reportedly appears to be no significant difference between the 2 variants in terms of clinical outcomes.

The BA.2 Omicron sub-variant recently took over as the dominant strain in Denmark.

 

2% of all cases in Singapore come from BA.2 strain

Given its relatively fresh emergence, investigations are still ongoing to find out more about the new strain.

However, the sub-variant has quickly toppled its predecessor, the Omicron BA.1, in Denmark. BA.2 has been the dominant strain in the country since the first week of January.

According to Outbreak.info, Singapore is third globally in terms of BA.2 cases, standing at 2% of all Covid-19 cases since the variant was first identified in our nation.

Hope MOH has the situation under control

Although we expect to face mutations of the Covid-19 virus, it’s disheartening to see yet another strain coming into prominence.

Let’s hope the sub-variant isn’t a cause for concern and that it wouldn’t be yet another stumbling block in this prolonged pandemic.

Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.

Featured images by MS News.

Iqmall Hayat

“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick? ” -Kevin Malone

Recent Posts

Serangoon HDB flat sold for S$1.208M, becomes most expensive unit in the estate

Prices in Serangoon are rapidly escalating, with a 7.01% increase in the average price this…

29 Mar 2024, 3:29 pm

Scissors penetrate Thai girl’s skull after 4-year-old brother throws them to imitate TV show

The depth of penetration was 2.54cm, or an inch. 

29 Mar 2024, 2:25 pm

Mother of US toddler who died after being left alone for 10 days gets life imprisonment

The judge said she committed "the ultimate betrayal".

29 Mar 2024, 12:25 pm

Expats find S’pore too costly to live in: Many are feeling the pinch & want to leave

Despite the country being an attractive place to live in, elevated costs are causing many…

29 Mar 2024, 10:20 am

S’pore checkpoints see massive jams before Good Friday long weekend with more than 4 hours’ wait

The queue at Tuas was four hours and 40 minutes long at 11.16pm.

29 Mar 2024, 7:23 am