Covid-19 variants have been rearing their heads since the beginning of the pandemic.
The Omicron strain caused many issues in Ireland over the Christmas period and saw the implementation of new measures to cope with the spread.
Case figures skyrocketed alongside hospital admissions for a number of weeks as it spread like wildfire and overtook the once dominant Delta variant.
After weeks of working to flatten the latest curve, the Irish government opted to drop the majority of restrictions from January 22 as case numbers and hospital admissions began to drop.
The booster rollout was also coined as one of the main reasons we can now move towards pre-pandemic life.
However, in recent weeks there have been reports of a new subvariant attached to Omicron that is causing issues in the likes of Denmark and now the UK.
At this point there are no plans to slow down the return to normality in Ireland, however, health officials say they will continue to monitor the situation as Spring approaches.
In the meantime, here’s everything we know so far about the latest developments of Omicron and the BA.2 subvariant.
Where did it originate?
The new subvariant which is being coined as ‘Omicron’s little brother’ was first identified in India and South Africa in late December 2021.
Since then, it has made its way to around 40 countries with the most cases being reported in Denmark, India, Britain, Sweden and Singapore.
Has it been detected in Ireland yet?
BA.2 has not been detected in Ireland at this point, however, it is likely over the coming weeks that it will be discovered here through testing.
At this point there are no indications from government or health experts that it may slow the reopening.
Is it as transmissible as the original Omicron variant?
The World Health Organisation has yet to go into great detail on the new subvariant and whether or not it could cause issues with increased transmission.
However, Virologist Tom Peacock of Imperial College London tweeted that "very early observations from India and Denmark suggest there is no dramatic difference in severity compared to BA.1. This data should become more solid (one way or another) in the coming weeks.”
He went on to write that "there is likely to be minimal differences in vaccine effectiveness against BA.1 and BA.2.
“Personally, I'm not sure BA.2 is going to have a substantial impact on the current Omicron wave of the pandemic.”
What are the symptoms?
According to the available information on this sub strain, BA.2 is even harder to detect through testing because it doesn’t have the spike gene which is found in the original BA.1 variant - or Omicron.
However, it’s likely that the symptoms are similar to the original strain of Omicron, which are:
- Runny nose
- Dry or scratchy cough
- Headache
- Fatigue
- sneezing
As always, if you develop any known symptoms of the virus you should self isolate and take an antigen test.
If this antigen comes back positive and you are under 40, you do not need a PCR to confirm infection, but rather you should isolate and continue to test in accordance with HSE advice.
This applies to everyone, regardless of your vaccination status.
