A new omicron subvariant has been discovered in Shanghai, China, according to an official from the city, as china struggles to keep up with the new mutations.
The new Omicron subvariant has been named BA.5.2.1, and was found on 8 July in the district of Pudong, and it was linked with an overseas case, according to the vice-director of Shanghai’s health commission, Zhao Dandan.
Shanghai recently emerged from a 2-month lockdown at the start of June, but restrictions continue to be imposed with buildings and compounds being locked down when there is an emergence of new transmission cases.
A member of the city’s expert advisory group on Covid prevention, Yuan Zhengan, said that the BA.5 variant has shown an accelerated rate of transmission and an improved capaciolity of escaping the immune system.
It was first discovered in China on 13 May, via a 37-year-old man who travelled from Uganda to shanghai.
However, vaccination is still effective at preventing the BA.5 variant from causing serious illnesses or deaths.