Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that 26 cases of a new variant of Omicron have been recorded in Scotland, as in-depth understanding of the possible new threat is underway.
Speaking at Holyrood this afternoon, The First Minister briefed Scots on Covid statistics as well as what protective measures are remaining for the time being.
Ahead of the conference, the news of a new form of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, BA.2 Omicron, was confirmed, suggesting that is may spread even easier than the original Omicron variant.
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Whilst the First Minister confirmed that the easing of some restrictions that were announced two weeks ago were to stay, she also stated that the virus still continues to pose a threat to the public.
Speaking today, Ms Sturgeon said: "The first is to update Parliament briefly on the sub-type of Omicron - known as BA.2 - which was recently designated as a variant under investigation.
As members will recall, with the main Omicron variant, what is called the S Gene is absent in PCR tests. However, in BA.2 cases the S Gene shows up. In the last week, the proportion of PCR tests with an S Gene dropout - which indicates the main Omicron variant - has declined, with a corresponding increase in the proportion of tests showing S Gene positive results.
"This could be accounted for by Delta cases which also show positive S Gene results. However, it may also indicate increasing transmission of the BA.2 sub variant. Genomic sequencing is being used to investigate this further.
"So far, I can confirm that in Scotland 26 cases of BA.2 have been confirmed through genomic sequencing - but we expect this number to increase as more sequencing results are reported. And given that not all tests are genomically sequenced, it will be an underestimate of the presence of this sub variant here."
Sturgeon did confirm that there is currently no evidence to suggest that BA.2 will result in more severe symptom for those who contract it.
She did, however, admit that it may have the ability to over-run the main Omicron variant, meaning it could even more transmissible.
Sturgeon continued: "It is important to stress that, at this stage, there is no evidence that BA.2 causes more severe disease than the main Omicron variant. Nor, at this stage, is there any evidence that BA.2 has any greater ability to escape the immunity conferred by vaccines or previous infection.
"However, BA.2 does appear to have the ability to out-run the main Omicron variant, which may indicate that it is more transmissible.
Investigations into this are ongoing, both in the UK and in other countries, such as Denmark, where the sub-variant has been circulating for longer.
"At the moment, therefore, the BA.2 variant is not a cause for any alarm or change in approach, but it does warrant further study.
It also a reminder that the course of this pandemic - of any pandemic - remains uncertain."
Today's statistics recorded 7,565 positive cases, a slight increase in recent days. 1,177 people are currently in hospital with the virus - 30 fewer than yesterday.
42 people are in intensive care - 3 fewer than yesterday and sadly, a further 30 deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths in Scotland to 10,341.
