• A locked gate blocks access to a bar area in Berlin. Germany's government has put a lid on New Year celebrations, with nightclubs slated to close from December 28 onwards. AFP
    A locked gate blocks access to a bar area in Berlin. Germany's government has put a lid on New Year celebrations, with nightclubs slated to close from December 28 onwards. AFP
  • A jogger runs past the Covid-19 Memorial Wall in London. EPA
    A jogger runs past the Covid-19 Memorial Wall in London. EPA
  • People receive the Moderna booster at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium. Many are flocking to receive their booster shots amid surging Omicron infections. AP
    People receive the Moderna booster at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium. Many are flocking to receive their booster shots amid surging Omicron infections. AP
  • People wearing face masks pose for a photo outside a coffee shop with Christmas-themed decorations in Athens, Greece. AP
    People wearing face masks pose for a photo outside a coffee shop with Christmas-themed decorations in Athens, Greece. AP
  • A woman tapes the word "Omicron" to a handmade effigy depicting the Omicron coronavirus variant in Managua. The effigies will be burnt at midnight on December 31 as a tradition of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new. AFP
    A woman tapes the word "Omicron" to a handmade effigy depicting the Omicron coronavirus variant in Managua. The effigies will be burnt at midnight on December 31 as a tradition of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new. AFP
  • Delivery workers of South Korea's leading logistics company CJ Logistics Corporation protest in the capital Seoul over working conditions. EPA
    Delivery workers of South Korea's leading logistics company CJ Logistics Corporation protest in the capital Seoul over working conditions. EPA
  • Shoppers hunt for bargains in Tokyo as people prepare for the New Year celebrations. Authorities in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto have announced free PCR tests to reduce infection risk especially during the holidays in Japan. EPA
    Shoppers hunt for bargains in Tokyo as people prepare for the New Year celebrations. Authorities in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto have announced free PCR tests to reduce infection risk especially during the holidays in Japan. EPA
  • Travellers at the international airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Authorities have suspended quarantine-free entry to the country for all passengers, to contain the spread of the Omicron variant. EPA
    Travellers at the international airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Authorities have suspended quarantine-free entry to the country for all passengers, to contain the spread of the Omicron variant. EPA
  • People queue for Covid-19 status checks before entering the Egyptian Museum, in Turin, northern Italy. EPA
    People queue for Covid-19 status checks before entering the Egyptian Museum, in Turin, northern Italy. EPA
  • A woman takes a Covid-19 test at a pop-up testing site as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York. Reuters
    A woman takes a Covid-19 test at a pop-up testing site as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York. Reuters
  • Workers check the body temperatures of pupils arriving for Year 12 examinations at a school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. EPA
    Workers check the body temperatures of pupils arriving for Year 12 examinations at a school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. EPA
  • Thousands of people on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 26. Brazil's beaches are crowded with the arrival of summer despite the worldwide spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Authorities will hold a New Year's Eve party on the Copacabana shore. Getty Images
    Thousands of people on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on December 26. Brazil's beaches are crowded with the arrival of summer despite the worldwide spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Authorities will hold a New Year's Eve party on the Copacabana shore. Getty Images
  • People gather during a demonstration of the cultural sector against the closure of venues under new rules put into place against Covid-19, in Brussels, Belgium. EPA
    People gather during a demonstration of the cultural sector against the closure of venues under new rules put into place against Covid-19, in Brussels, Belgium. EPA
  • Shoppers during Boxing Day sales in Glasgow. New restrictions have been introduced in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Getty Images
    Shoppers during Boxing Day sales in Glasgow. New restrictions have been introduced in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Getty Images
  • A woman takes a Covid-19 test in Times Square as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in New York City. Reuters
    A woman takes a Covid-19 test in Times Square as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in New York City. Reuters
  • Hospital workers gather for a selfie in the Covid-19 intensive care unit of the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France. One of the country’s largest hospitals, La Timone has weathered wave after wave of coronavirus. AP
    Hospital workers gather for a selfie in the Covid-19 intensive care unit of the La Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France. One of the country’s largest hospitals, La Timone has weathered wave after wave of coronavirus. AP
  • Cricket fans arrive on the first day of the third Ashes Test between Australia and England in Melbourne, Australia. EPA
    Cricket fans arrive on the first day of the third Ashes Test between Australia and England in Melbourne, Australia. EPA
  • A screen at the San Francisco International Airport shows cancelled United Airlines flights to Chicago O'Hare and Cleveland on Christmas Eve. EPA
    A screen at the San Francisco International Airport shows cancelled United Airlines flights to Chicago O'Hare and Cleveland on Christmas Eve. EPA
  • Travellers wait for trains on the eve of Christmas, at Euston Station in London. EPA
    Travellers wait for trains on the eve of Christmas, at Euston Station in London. EPA
  • Pastries named "virus" and "vaccine" on display in the window of a cafe and pastry shop in Prague, Czech Republic. Countries in central Europe are preparing for what many fear will be a fifth wave of the coronavirus brought on by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Getty Images
    Pastries named "virus" and "vaccine" on display in the window of a cafe and pastry shop in Prague, Czech Republic. Countries in central Europe are preparing for what many fear will be a fifth wave of the coronavirus brought on by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Getty Images
  • People wait to receive vaccine doses at a shopping centre in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA
    People wait to receive vaccine doses at a shopping centre in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. EPA
  • People rush to receive Covid-19 testing kits from city workers in the Brooklyn area of New York. The city is handing out thousands of the kits, which include two tests per box, as part of efforts to reduce the surge of people in long lines at testing sites. AFP
    People rush to receive Covid-19 testing kits from city workers in the Brooklyn area of New York. The city is handing out thousands of the kits, which include two tests per box, as part of efforts to reduce the surge of people in long lines at testing sites. AFP
  • People queue on Christmas Day for booster shots in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. EPA
    People queue on Christmas Day for booster shots in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. EPA
  • Newly elected President Gabriel Boric receives the third booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine in Santiago, Chile. Getty Images
    Newly elected President Gabriel Boric receives the third booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine in Santiago, Chile. Getty Images

Coronavirus

What is the IHU Covid variant first discovered in France?

There have been only 12 reported cases of the variant, which is believed to have originated in Cameroon

Jamie Prentis
Jamie Prentis

January 04, 2022

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Live updates: follow the latest news on Covid-19 variant Omicron

Experts have played down fears about a relatively new coronavirus variant first detected in France and linked to travel to Cameroon.

Researchers at the IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille posted their as yet not peer reviewed findings on December 29, on the website medRxiv. They detailed 12 infections in the same geographical area of south-eastern France from the variant tentatively identified as B.1.640.2.

The IHU reported the discovery of the variant on December 9, but news of B.1.640.2 has only appeared to spread online in recent days.

A website called Thailand Medical had claimed that there had been 952 cases of B.1.640.2 as of January 1, without offering verifiable evidence.

According to Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London, the discovery of B.1.640.2 predates that of the Omicron variant by several weeks. He said the first published report on B.1.640.2 by researchers was on November 4.

“This virus has had a decent chance to cause trouble but never really materialised (as far as we can tell at least...)”, Dr Peacock wrote on Twitter.

The rapid spread of Omicron around the world has seen countries reintroduce or harden restrictions in a bid to counter its movement.

Professor Francois Balloux, director of University College London’s Genetics Institute, also urged caution. “Please relax for now,” he said.

Updated: January 04, 2022, 12:14 PM
Coronavirus