Skoltech scientists Georgii Bazykin and Elena Nabieva co-authored a recent preprint “SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Outbreak in a Dormitory in Saint-Petersburg, Russia”. The researchers report an Omicron outbreak at a students’ dormitory in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Out of the 462 sampled residents of the dormitory, 206 (44.6%) had positive tests for SARS-CoV-2, and in 159 (77.1%) cases the viruses isolated carried the S:ins214EPE insertion, indicating that they were of the Omicron strain. 104 (65%) of Omicron-positive patients have been vaccinated and/or reported previous COVID-19. Further whole genome sequencing confirmed that the outbreak is caused by the Omicron variant. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis showed that the outbreak has a single origin, and belongs to the S:346K sublineage of Omicron which may be characterized by an increased rate of spread, compared to other Omicron sublineages. Full text of the preprint is available here.