First case of ‘Kraken’ Covid variant detected in Russia

The first case of a new, more contagious Covid-19 sub-variant known as the ‘Kraken’ has been recorded in Russia, the country’s consumer watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, announced on Thursday.

An infection with the Omicron subvariant officially known as XBB.1.5 was found in Penza Region in central Russia, 600km southeast of Moscow, as part of the monitoring of information uploaded daily to the Virus Genome Aggregator of Russia.