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Coronavirus pandemic

Russia’s Federal Medical Biological Agency detects Omicron in 76% of positive samples

The agency’s chief Veronika Skvortsova said that the tests involved a testing system developed by the FMBA

© Vladimir Gerdo/TASS

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Medical Biological Agency (FMBA) has so far detected the Omicron coronavirus variant in 76% of positive samples, the agency’s chief Veronika Skvortsova told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"We saw Omicron prevail over other strains, namely Delta, yesterday and today. For instance, as for the tests that we conducted, Omicron was detected in 76% of positive samples," she pointed out.

According to Skvortsova, the tests involved a testing system developed by the FMBA.

On January 11, Russia’s sanitary watchdog approved the testing system for detecting the Omicron coronavirus variant. The agency said that the system was capable of detecting Omicron and the Delta strain and distinguishing between them within an hour and a half.

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