The new coronavirus variant has been detected in Northern Ireland, according to health officials.
Dubbed Pirola, the Omicron subvariant, BA.2.86, was first identified in the UK in August in a person with no recent travel history, suggesting a degree of spread within the community.
Since then, the Omicron spin-off has triggered 54 confirmed cases in the UK, of which 48 are in England and six in Scotland.
Now, the Public Health Agency (PHA) said there are a small number of cases in Northern Ireland.
Health experts shared the variant doesn’t seem more likely to make people seriously ill compared to other variants in circulation, but Pirola carries a high number of mutations in its spike protein.
It added: “There has now been a small number of confirmed cases of BA.2.86 identified in NI.
“There is no evidence at this time that this variant causes more severe disease or spreads more easily compared to other currently circulating variants.”
Furthermore, the bulletin also reported an increase in the number of new outbreaks in care homes, with 11 new outbreaks reported in the current week.
Pirola has previously caused a localised outbreak in a Norfolk care home at the beginning of September.
