Two new Omicron sublineages discovered by South African scientists

South African scientists have discovered two new sublineages of the omicron coronavirus variant, said Tulio de Oliveira, who runs gene-sequencing institutions in the country.

New Omicron BA.4 & BA.5 detected in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and U.K. Early indications that these new sublineages are increasing as a share of genomically confirmed cases in SA. No cause for alarm as no major spike in cases, admissions or deaths in SA pic.twitter.com/PrcBWpVWtl

— Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) April 11, 2022

The lineages have been named BA.4 and BA.5, he said by text message and in a series of