France Detects 1st Omicron's 'Pirola' Case

France detected the first case of the variant of the Covid-19 BA.2.86, Public Health France told AFP on Thursday.

This new variant of Omicron is a continuation of the “largest number of mutations” making it “likely to evolve more significantly and spread more easily” according to the President of the Committee for Monitoring and Anticipating Health Risks Brigitte Autran.

This new case was found in the Grand Est, said Public Health France, stressing that the authorities had “launched an investigation to collect epidemiological information to document this first case”.

The WHO has decided to classify this new variant, known as “Pirola” on social networks, in the category of variants under surveillance.

WHO added that BA.2.86 caused a major spike in infections, but “We do not expect to see comparable levels of severe illness and death compared to what we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants spread