New COVID Omicron subvariant discovered in Shanghai

• "Our city has recently continued to report more locally transmitted positive cases (of COVID-19) and the risk of the epidemic spreading through society remains very high," Zhao added, per Reuters.

The subvariant of Omicron called BA.5 is the most transmissible subvariant yet and has become the dominant version circulating in the U.S. and much of the world, Axios' Tina Reed writes.

• BA.5 is so transmissible — and different enough from previous versions — that even those with immunity from prior Omicron infections may not have to wait long before falling ill again.

State of play: Last month, Shanghai emerged from a strict 2-month lockdown that saw families scrambling for food.

• The city, China's financial hub, is still trying to tamp down cases and avoid new outbreaks. The city will carry out two rounds of mass COVID-19 testing between July 12-14 in nine districts, Bloomberg reported.
• The BA.5 subvariant was first discovered in China back in May, per Reuters.