Two community cases of the Omicron BA.2.12.1 variant have been reported in Singapore, both of them self-isolating after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
The Singapore Ministry of Health discovered the two cases after actively testing the local Covid-19 situation and conducting genetic sequencing. BA.2.12.1 is not currently listed by the World Health Organization as a coronavirus strain of concern or monitoring.
According to the New York Times, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 are spreading rapidly in New York, USA. During March, these two mutant strains accounted for more than 70% of new cases in central New York state, and this number has now been rose to over 90%.
Both variants are currently present in more than 40 countries and more than 30 states in the United States. Both variants evolved from BA.2, and it is unclear whether BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 spread faster because they are more contagious, or because of their ability to bypass the body's immune defenses. raised.
So far, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 have not caused more severe disease than the previous mutant strains.
Omicron Variation
The new crown epidemic has entered its third year, and the dominant virus strain affecting the global epidemic trend has changed from Delta (Delta) variant to Omicron (Omicron), while Omicron itself continues to evolve, and the subtype strain BA.2 quickly replaced The original popular BA.1.
Omicron is the most mutated and most mutated variant of the new coronavirus to date, and is listed as a variant of concern (VOC) by the World Health Organization (WHO), with known characteristics including the easiest transmission, but overall milder symptoms , the number of cases leading to severe hospitalization or death is significantly less than that of the previous variants, which cannot be ruled out as the factors of global vaccination popularization and the production of antibodies by natural immunity.