Stefan Pöhlmann
@snpoehlm
Viruses & Proteases, Head of Infection Biology Unit, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, @primatenzentrum.bsky.social, Decoding viral entry, Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants, Views are my own
9 new sequences from Spain 🇪🇸, all from July 2026 7 are XFJ*, 2 are XFG*, no #BA32 Official data suggest that BA.3.2 dominance might be broken by X* viruses. docsivira.isciii.es/Informe_sema...
34 new SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Malaysia 🇲🇾, collected in July 2026. XDV* subvariants dominate, followed by RF.5*. This pattern coincides with a clear increase in reported COVID-19 cases, although hospital admissions have not (yet) increased. data.moh.gov.my/dashboard/co...
At present, Hong Kong is experiencing a clear uptick in SARS-CoV-2 infections
115 new SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Hong Kong, most collected in June and July 2026. Almost all belong to XDV* lineages, with SV.1 and SV.2 being particularly common. These findings are consistent with the official surveillance data from Hong Kong. chp.gov.hk/files/pdf/co...
High prevalence of BA.3.2 between January and April 2026 was not associated with a COVID-19 wave in the 0-4 age group.
88 new sequences from New South Wales 🇦🇺, collected June and July 2026. XDV subvariants (mainly RK*) dominate, BA.3.2 at roughly 10%. The results for this batch are in keeping with official data: health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/c...
48 new sequences from Thailand 🇹🇭, all collected June and July 2026 XDV* (RK.1* and others) dominating, BA.2.86* (RF.5*) subvariants frequent. BA.3.2* rare. #BA32 COVID-19 activity in Thailand appears to be low (data available until mid May). cdn.who.int/media/docs/d...
5/n Hospitalization was most frequent in the age group 65 plus, followed by age group 0-4.
4/n The frequency of COVID-19 notifications among age groups 0-4 and 75 plus was highest.
3/n COVID-19 activity in Queensland is low Queensland Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance Report health.qld.gov.au/__data/asset...
2/n Most are XDV*, 20% are BA.3.2. This indicates a shift of prevalence towards XDV* derived variants, in agreement with official data: Public and Environmental Health Reference Laboratories Pathology Queensland health.qld.gov.au/__data/asset...
Their study linked receptor usage to viral tissue tropism and pathogenesis, explaining the Nipah virus preference for endothelial and neuronal cells. They also laid the foundation for subsequent structural and mechanistic studies of henipavirus entry.
Although the sample is small, the high frequency of XFG suggests that BA.3.2’s previously observed dominance may be waning. Spain’s latest official SiVIRA data point in the same direction: docsivira.isciii.es/Informe_sema...
BA.3.2 dominance occurs at a time of low COVID-19 activity, as seen for several other countries. #BA32
15 new sequences from Portugal 🇵🇹, collected April to June 2026. 10 are BA.3.2. The high frequency of BA.3.2 in this batch matches data from ECDC, showing that BA.3.2 dominates in Portugal. erviss.org
You are correct, thank you for picking this up. The screenshot inadvertently omitted the numbers for some age groups. My apologies for that oversight. Here is the complete screenshot.
41 new SARS-CoV-2 sequences from New Zealand 🇳🇿, all collected in June 2026. Nearly 50% are #BA32, making it the most prevalent lineage in this dataset. At the same time, children aged 0-9 years accounted for the highest number of COVID-19 hospital admissions over the past 30 days.
Historic papers in virology. today, 30 years ago, two papers in Nature reported that HIV-1 uses CCR5 as a major coreceptor for entry into target cells. This explained key aspects of HIV-1 cell tropism and pathogenesis and opened the door to targeting viral entry for antiviral therapy.
3/n In New Zealand, BA.3.2 frequencies approaching 50% during April and May 2026 were accompanied by a marked increase in hospitalizations for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in children aged 0–4 years, while other age groups showed no comparable increase.
8/n SARS-CoV-2 circulation is currently very low (see data from Germany below). No variant currently appears poised for global dominance; we may be entering an era of cocirculation.
BA.3.2 has apparently largely disappeared from Germany 🇩🇪, while levels in the Netherlands 🇳🇱 continue to decline. Similarly, the variant is not gaining a significant foothold in Finland 🇫🇮 and frequency in Sweden 🇸🇪 was 25% in April.
Still only a limited number of new sequences from Europe 🇪🇺. May data are available for Spain 🇪🇸, where BA.3.2* remains strong. A similar trend could be expected in England 🏴, France 🇫🇷, and Italy 🇮🇹, where BA.3.2 prevalence was already high in April. #BA32