Since the BR.2.1 subvariant was first detected in September,there have been 162 cases detected worldwide,of which 161 were from Australia and 144 were from NSW,the majority of whom had not recently travelled overseas,NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said.
Chant said a mix of subvariants – XBB.1,BQ.1.1 as well as BR.2.1 – were gaining a foothold in the state by evolving in strikingly similar ways that gave them a “competitive advantage” over the COVID-fighting antibodies.
The latest NSW HealthCOVID surveillance report shows the Omicron BA.5 is still dominant,but the new candidates are creeping up.
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“We think these variants aredriving the new wave,” Chant said. “We’re just waiting to find out which one is the winner.”
However,Associate Professor Stuart Turville, head of the containment lab and the Kirby Institute,said the swarm is a sign the virus may be losing its potency.
“If we lump them all together – BR.2.1,XBB1.1 and BQ.1.1 – what unifies them is that they all have accumulated quite a few similar changes in the spike protein[which enables them to more effectively to evade immunity],” he said.