A new lineage of the Omicron variant called “Omicron Like” has been discovered in Australia, local health officials in the state of Queensland announced on Dec. 8. Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Omicron Like was discovered in a recent arrival from South Africa who is in hospital in the state’s capital, Brisbane. Australian forensic scientists helped international experts identify the new variant, which led to Omicron being reclassified into two lineages. “And we have both of them here in Queensland,” D’Ath told reporters on Dec. 8. The state’s acting chief health officer, Peter Aitken, said that Omicron Like does not have the S gene dropout, which is a marker in identifying the normal Omicron strain. He said this is “going to lead to improvements in people recognising the potential spread of Omicron in all communities.” Omicron Like has “about half” of the gene changes of Omicron, giving it enough to classify as …