MOSCOW
On Thursday, Russia reported its first case of the novel XBB. 1. 5 subvariant of the coronavirus, dubbed “kraken. “
The variant, another globally dominant branch of the omicron strain, has recently spread in the United States, with cases also detected in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
The first Russian patient with the highly contagious subvariant lives in the Penza region, according to the country’s fitness watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor.
The authority said the new subvariant has a higher mortality rate or causes more severe infections, but there is evidence that it spreads temporarily and is more contagious.
The BA. 5 subvariant of the omicron strain is ultimately the dominant maxim in Russia, Rozpotrebnadzor said.
He said 4,675 new infections were recorded in Russia in the past day, 48 deaths, bringing the total number to more than 20 million and deaths to more than 394,260.
In total, the “kraken” subvariant was discovered in 38 countries, with the highest percentage of sequences (82. 2%) reported in the United States, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday in an evaluation.
“Based on their genetic characteristics and estimates of the early expansion rate, XBB. 1. 5 would possibly contribute to a higher incidence of cases,” the WHO said.