More than 1,000 cases of a new variant of Omicron coronavirus have been identified across England.
It is thought the variant may be even more contagious than the earlier Omicron variant, but fortunately vaccines seem to be similarly effective against both types.
The variant, officially known as BA.2, has been nicknamed stealth Omicron as its differences from Omicron make it harder to identify as a subvariant of that when it is picked up on PCR tests.
