MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. The BA.2.75 subvariant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus’ Omicron strain, or the so-called Centaurus, accounts for 0.16% of cases in Russia in the past two weeks, Russia’s sanitary watchdog said on Tuesday.
"In the past two weeks, the BA.1 Omicron genovariant accounted for 2.04% of all sequences, the BA.2 subvariant accounted for 21.56%, and the BA.4/BA.5 subvariants accounted for 75.39% The Delta genovariant accounted for 0.85% of cases, and 0.16% of sequences were identified as BA.2.75 (Centaurus) subvariant of the Omicron strain," it said.
As of July 25, Russia’s national database of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences VGARus had 1,44,245 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences obtained as a result of whole-genome and fragment sequencing.
As many as 43,985 coronavirus cases were confirmed in Russia during the 29th week on the year. The incidence rate was 29.97 cases per 100,000 people, or by 48.9% up on the previous week and by 50.2% up on an average for the past four weeks. The incidence higher than Russia’s average was registered in 17 Russian regions.
"Amid the growing COVID-19 morbidity caused by new subvariants of the Omicron strain, people from vulnerable categories are recommended to wear masks in public places and use sanitizers. It is also recommended to undergo revaccination every six months," the watchdog said.