The Omicron BA.2 subvariant of Covid-19 has been dominant in Bangladesh in the month of May, said a report.

"9% BA.5 subvariant and 91% BA.2 subvariant of Omicron were found from running genome sequencing on samples collected between 1-31 May," said the report titled "SARS-CoV-2 Variants in Bangladesh Technical briefing Report: May 2022".

The report was jointly prepared by the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research (IEDCR), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr, b), Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi), Child Health Research Foundation (CHRF) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 5 variants of concern (VOC) and 2 variants under monitoring (VUM) have been reported globally.

The Omicron variant is the latest addition which has been designated as VOC in late November 2021 because of its transmissibility, immune system evasion, and vaccine resistance. It has already spread across the world including 1280 cases in Bangladesh as of 20 June 2022.

Omicron BA.5 variant was first reported in Bangladesh 24 May 2022, the report said, adding that Omicron variant accounted for 100% from Covid-19 cases in the country from 1 to 31 May of this year.

No variant unique to Bangladesh has been detected yet, the report further added.

Because of the low positivity rate of Covid-19 across the country, less samples in May 2022 were contributed by the donor labs. Therefore, the consortium was able to sequence only 11 samples collected between 1 to 31 May 2022. These samples were collected from 6 divisions.