Thailand found four suspected cases of BA 2.2 sub-lineage of BA.2 variant of Omicron, discovered in Hong Kong, said Director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, Supakit Sirilak.
He said random checks on 1,961 samples for the coronavirus strains found 99.7 per cent were the Omicron variant, comprising 32.4 per cent of BA.1 and 67.6 per cent of BA.2.
His department weekly conducts genomic sequencing of the virus and reports the results to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), the leading database on genomic influenza data. Omicron has mutated into three subvariants (BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3).
A new mutation of the Omicron coronavirus variant discovered in Hong Kong has yet to be officially named by the GISAID.
Four suspected cases detected in Thailand were one foreigner and three Thais. The samples showed a unique Spike mutation I1221T.
Thailand will closely monitor the new variant whether it could cause more severe disease or could be more transmissible and more immune evasive, he said.
Thailand logged on Monday 22,130 more new cases and more 69 fatalities during the previous 24 hours. (TNA)
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