CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
A person grabs a COVID-19 testing swab, Jan. 5, at Fort Ruger Park, also known as Triangle Park, in Kahala. The omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, currently the dominant lineages circulating in South Africa, have recently been detected in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii Department of Health State Laboratories Division.
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The omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, currently the dominant lineages circulating in South Africa, have recently been detected in Hawaii, according to the Hawaii Department of Health State Laboratories Division.
DOH’s latest variant report, published Wednesday, confirmed one case of BA.4 and one case of BA.5 detected through whole genome sequencing in May.
There is no listing of which county the case of BA.4 was detected in. The case of BA.5 was detected in a specimen from Hawaii island.
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Both BA.4 and BA.5 contain four additional mutations within the spike protein when compared to BA.2, and are estimated to be about 1.6 and 1.8 times more transmissible, respectively, than BA.2., according to the report.
In May, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reclassified BA.4 and BA.5 as variants of concern, noting no indication of increased severity over previous variants, but that they appear to be more transmissible.
BA.2 still makes up the largest proportion of variants circulating in Hawaii, at 70%, according to the report, while its descendant, BA.2.12.1 now makes up 29%, about double what was reported two weeks ago.
A total of eight cases of omicron subvariant XE — which contains genetic material from BA.1 and BA.2 — have now been detected in Hawaii as well. Six of those cases were detected in Honolulu.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the number of omicron subvariant XE cases in Hawaii.
