A new subvariant of the coronavirus has been found in Finland, but not in the area of the Hus group.
Finland the first infection with the kraken variant of the coronavirus is not from the Helsinki region, i.e. from the area of the Hus corporation.
Head of diagnostics at Hus Lasse Lehtonen says, however, that he is sure that a new form of the disease will be found in the area during January.
“The variant has spread widely on the east coast of the United States, and it ends up here as well,” says Lehtonen.
Information of the first subvariant XBB.1.5 of the coronavirus in Finland was received from the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) on Friday morning.
Read more: The “kraken variant” of the coronavirus has been detected for the first time in Finland – The location is not disclosed
The virus variant named Kraken was born from the combination of two omicron variants. It has been found to adhere easily.
Different variants of the coronavirus are monitored in Finland with so-called whole-genome sequencing. According to Lehtonen, about half of the samples that end up in this method come from the Husi area.
“The new variant infects more sensitively than the previous ones and is able to circumvent immunity. In the United States, it has not caused a more severe disease, but vaccine protection is key here,” says Lehtonen.
Lehtonen says that he is “badly afraid that there will be a wave of infection in March”. That’s why he says he’s in favor of booster shots now, so they can curb serious infections.
The corona situation is very calm in Hus at the moment. In three weeks, the number of hospital patients has halved to around 40 in the Husi area.
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