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(Reuters) - UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) said on Friday that 34 COVID-19 cases linked to the highly mutated variant BA.2.86 had been identified i...
The Omicron offshoot carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023, a number roughly on par with the Omicron variant that caused record infections. Of the 34 confirmed cases identified as of Sept. 4, five patients were hospitalised and no deaths had been linked to the new emerging variant. The agency said 28 of the confirmed cases were identified from a single outbreak at a care home in Norfolk.
BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, causing concern among scientists because of fear it could be more transmissible
An outbreak of Covid-19 in a care home in Norfolk at the end of August saw 33 out of 38 residents test positive for the virus, along with 12 members of staff, according to the UK Health Security Agency
The new variant has a high number of mutations which has raised concerns among scientists that it could evade vaccines