Athens University Medical School Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology Gkikas Magorkinis, a prominent member and spokesman for the National Committee on COVID-19, touched on the emergence of the Omicron 2 sub-variant of COVID-19 at today’s weekly press briefing.
Magiorkinis said that since early December it has been observed that the COVID-19 Omicron variant has two branches. One of them has been referred to as a stealth mutation as it has a mutation that is not detectable by classical diagnostic methods.
The sub-variant appears to have spread from Norway to other countries.
Magiorkinis said that the rate of transmission of the sub-variant is still unknown, as there is no data from other countries.
He said there has been no confirmed case of the sub-variant in Greece as yet.
“The characteristics of the sub-variant are not yet clear, and we do not have data indicating that it is more transmissible or that it is linked to heavier illness,” he said.
