A HIGHLY transmissible variant of Omicron now makes up more than a fifth of Covid cases in York, according to latest data.

City of York Council's Covid data tracker report says the 'BA.2' variant made up 21.96 per cent of cases in the period February 16 to March 15.

The original Omicron strain made up 75.3 per cent of cases, with 2.74 per cent undetermined. The Delta variant, which was totally dominant as recently as last November, is not mentioned.

The report said that in the seven days up to last Monday, 166 children of primary or secondary school age tested positive at 41 schools across the York area.

It said that as of last Wednesday, 17 care homes in the York council area had a confirmed Covid-19 infection affecting at least one staff member or resident.

It said the University of York had reported 119 individuals within the University community who were currently self-isolating because they had had a positive Covid-19 test, and York St. John University had reported 27 individuals who were self isolating.

The age group most highly affected by Covid was 35-39 year olds, who had a rate of 1,009 cases per 100,000 people.