China has locked down a coronavirus-hit northeastern province and has also deployed military reservists on Monday as the rapidly spreading “stealth omicron" variant fuels the country's biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic two years ago. What is 'Stealth Omicron' Variant? According to reports, much of the current outbreak is being driven by the variant commonly known as “stealth omicron" or the B.A.2 lineage of the Omicron variant.
The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) announced it is investigating a sub-lineage of the omicron coronavirus variant—known as BA.2 and named by some scientists as “stealth omicron".
The “stealth omicron" variant has been reported to spread faster than the original omicron, which itself spread faster than the original virus and other variants, according to early research.
Omicron variant had fueled the third wave of the pandemic that affected the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not yet consider BA.2 to be a “variant of concern" but is continuing to monitor its spread.