No new Omicron BQ.1, Cerberus infections recorded in Russia

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM - Over the past week, Russia has not registered any new infections with coronavirus Omicron BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 Cerberus subvariants with BA.4 and BA.5 lines making up about 97% of infections, the press service of Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing reported on Tuesday, TASS reports.

«Some 3% of sequences have been identified as BA.2 line of the Omicron gene variant, 97% [have been identified as] BA.4/BA.5 lines. No new discoveries of BQ.1/BQ.1.1 subvariants were recorded,» its statement said.

On October 26, head of the sanitary watchdog Anna Popova reported the detection of new lines of the Omicron strain, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 Cerberus, in Russia. Currently, there are isolated cases of the infection with these subvariants being registered in Russia.

According to infectious disease specialists, the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 lines are more contagious but the disease has a lighter course. As head of the Yekaterinburg Research Institute of Viral Infections (an affiliate of the Vector Center of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) Alexander Semyonov reported earlier, Russian test systems are capable of detecting these viral variants.

Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton