Maseru, Aug. 27– A highly mutated COVID variant called BA.2.86 has now been detected in Switzerland and South Africa in addition to Israel, Denmark, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), according to a leading World Health Organisation (WHO) official website.
The Omicron offshoot carries more than 35 mutations in key portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most of 2023, a number roughly on par with the Omicron variant that caused record infections compared to its predecessor.
