CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -1.2 variant was first found in South Africa in July 2021, that it has DNA sequences dating back to May 2021, and that it has some of the same clusters of mutations present in other variations of COVID-19.

Detailed explanation-2: -The original Omicron strain (BA.1) was first identified in Botswana and South Africa in late November 2021, and cases quickly began to surface and multiply in other countries. By December of that year, Omicron was causing daily case numbers in the U.S. to skyrocket to over a million, and it began to spawn subvariants.

Detailed explanation-3: -1.2 is more mutations away from the original SARS-CoV-2 virus that was first identified in Wuhan than any other variant detected so far.