QUITO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador detected three more cases of the BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number to eight, Public Health Minister Ximena Garzon said Friday.

The South American country announced the first five BA.2 cases on March 16 in the coastal city of Guayaquil.

During a press conference, Garzon said that although it is more contagious, the subvariant has not created changes in the epidemiological scenario in the country, as it continues to see a downward trend in the number of COVID-19 infections.

Garzon's epidemiological report showed that in the last weeks the number of infections and deaths due to the virus registered a sustained decrease, along with a decline in bed occupancy in public hospitals nationwide.

The official pointed out that the improvement in the indicators is due to the "good effect" of vaccination against COVID-19 among the target population aged five and older, which includes 16.1 million people.

Garzon also announced that Ecuador began to apply a fourth dose among the population, once they had completed five months of the third dose.

Ecuador had accumulated 861,251 COVID-19 cases and 25,236 deaths as of Thursday, according to the latest official report.