A total of 53 cases of an Omicron Covid sub-variant have been found in the United Kingdom.
The strain dubbed 'Stealth Omicron' - known to scientists as BA.2 - is now being investigated by the UK's Healthy and Security Agency
Omicron's sub-variant is reported to be outpacing the original mutant strain - known as BA.1 - reports Hull Live.
The second version of Omicron has more than 28 mutations and is spreading rapidly around some parts of the globe, according to reports.
At this moment, the subvariant cannot be distinguished from older variants by PCR tests.
The World Health Organization (WHO ) reports that Omicron, also known as B.1.1.529, has three main substrains, BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3
The UKHSA posted on Twitter : "The number of BA.2 cases is currently low, with the original Omicron lineage, BA.1, still dominant in the UK and further analyses will now be undertaken."
A spokesman said: "As of January 10 2022, 53 sequences of the BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron had been identified in the United Kingdom.
"This sub-lineage, which was designated by Pangolin on 6 December 2021, does not have the spike gene deletion at 69-70 that causes S-gene target failure (SGTF), which has previously been used as a proxy to detect cases of Omicron. UKHSA are continuing to monitor data on the BA.2 sub-lineage closely."
It is believed the stealth strain may be outcompeting BA.1 in Denmark - but scientists say the rates of infection, disease and hospitalisation are the same for both subvariants.
Stealth omicron has gone from 20 per cent to 45 per cent of cases in Denmark, and there are 30,000 new cases a day in the country.
There are reports it is starting to spread quickly in the UK, Norway, Sweden, France and India.
Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut said: “Initial analysis shows no differences in hospitalisations for BA.2 compared to BA.1. It is expected that vaccines also have an effect against severe illness upon BA.2 infection.”
Researchers believe there are 28 new mutations between BA.1 and stealth Covid BA.2.
Mutations are what can alter the behaviour of a strain - making it potentially more infectious, or altering how ill it makes sufferers.
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