Algeria on Sunday reported its first case of the new BA.2 subvariant of COVID-19, a subvariant of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The new case was reported by the General Director of Pasteur institute.

Experts believe the BA.2 subvariant, also known as the 'stealth omicron', could be more contagious than BA.1 – the original Omicron variant – but it doesn't appear to cause more severe COVID-19 disease.

According to preliminary calculations by Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the new subvariant could be 1.5 times more infectious than its predecessor – although they've detected no difference in the risk of hospitalisation.

Algeria closed schools down earlier this month for 10 days amid the strong surge in cases caused by the Omicron variant.

The North African country registered 1,742 new COVID-19 infections with 10 deaths, bringing the total number to 249,310 cases and 6,555 fatalities.