A case of the new version of the Omicron coronavirus variant, dubbed BA.4, has been detected in Belgium, KU Leuven virologists Marc Van Ranst and Piet Maes said on Monday. This new variant of the virus has already been detected in other countries.
The sample was detected in French-speaking Belgium and was analyzed by the ULB. The BA.5 version of Omicron, which appeared elsewhere in the world, has so far not been detected in Belgium. South Africa, Botswana, Germany, Denmark and the UK all have cases of BA.4 and BA.5. According to Van Ranst, the discovery of new versions of the coronavirus variant is not very big news. “Viruses accumulate mutations, that’s what they always do.
New versions will still surface”, underlines the virologist, who says “prefer subversions of Omicron than a brand new variant”. In South Africa, new versions of the variant have not led to an increase significant number of infections, hospital admissions or deaths, virologist Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Krisp Research Institute at South Africa’s University of KwaZulu-Natal, wrote on Twitter on Monday.