Scotland has 26 cases of BA.2 variant
Sturgeon says a new variant of Covid-19, known as BA.2, that is thought to be more transmissible than the highly contagious Omicron variant has infected at least 26 people in Scotland. She says there is no evidence it is more dangerous than well-known strains of the disease.
BA.2 does appear to have the ability to outrun the main Omicron variant, which may indicate that it is more transmissible. Investigations into this are ongoing both in the UK and in other countries like Denmark where the subvariant has been circulating for longer. At the moment this BA.2 subvariant is not a cause for any alarm nor a cause to change our approach but it does warrant further study. It is also a reminder that the course of this pandemic or any pandemic, indeed, does remain uncertain.