First case of ‘Kraken’ Covid variant detected in Russia The discovery will not lead to the introduction of restrictions, the country

First case of ‘Kraken’ Covid variant detected in Russia
The discovery will not lead to the introduction of restrictions, the country’s consumer watchdog has said

The first case of a new, more contagious Covid-19 sub-variant known as the ‘Kraken’ has been recorded in Russia, the country’s consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, announced on Thursday.

An infection with the Omicron subvariant officially known as XBB.1.5 was found in Penza Region in central Russia, 600km southeast of Moscow, as part of the monitoring of information uploaded daily to the Virus Genome Aggregator of Russia.

The woman who contracted the disease has not left Russia within the past two months, the agency said. She had the disease in a mild form and recovered in the space of a week, it added.

“Currently, a wide range of varieties of the Omicron strain has been detected in Russia, but the dominant strain is still Omicron BA.5,” which has been around since early 2022, the agency said.

Rospotrebnadzor added that there are no plans to introduce any new restrictions in the country due to the discovery of the variant. It was nicknamed ‘Kraken’ by scientists due to the shape of the virus, which resembles the mythical sea monster.

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