The “hidden” variant of the strain shares many mutations with the standard “Omicron”, but it lacks a specific genetic change that allows laboratory PCR tests to be used as a crude and ready-made tool for identifying probable cases of the disease.
This variant is still identified as a coronavirus by all conventional tests, and can be identified as the Omicron strain by genomic testing, but likely cases will not be detected using conventional PCR tests, which give faster results.
The researchers say it is too early to judge whether the new form of Omicron will spread in the same way as the standard strain, but the “secretive” variant is genetically different and therefore may well behave differently.
The stealth variant was first discovered among the COVID genomes submitted in recent days from South Africa, Australia and Canada, but it may have already spread more widely. Among the several dozen cases identified so far, none are in the UK.
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