COVID variants from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) noted that during the week beginning August 14, BA.4.6 accounted for 3.3 per cent of samples in the UK.
Similarly, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.4.6 now accounts for more than 9 per cent of recent cases across the US.
The variant has also been identified in several other countries around the world. What we know about BA.4.6, and should we be worried? 1) BA.4.6 is a descendant of the BA.4 variant of omicron.
2) BA.4 was first detected in January 2022 in South Africa and has since spread around the world alongside the BA.5 variant.