Omicron XE: More than 1,100 cases of new Covid variant found in UK
Expert warns strain could become dominant
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.More than 1,100 cases of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron XE, have been detected in the UK.
The variant appears very transmissible and is likely to become dominant, an expert has warned.
Public health officials said XE is a “recombinant” variant that combines genetic characteristics of the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants.
A total of 1,179 cases of XE have been confirmed in the UK so far. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the variant was first detected in the UK late in January.
Dr Alan Stout, chair of the British Medical Association’s GP committee in Northern Ireland, said: “The early signs are that it is going to be very transmissible, so it will probably become the dominant strain again.
“Again, the early signs from elsewhere are that it’s not causing any more serious illness and that the vaccine is protecting people. So even though it will most likely become dominant it hopefully won’t cause any significant problems.”
In a report released last week, the WHO said early tests showed XE could be more transmissible than earlier Omicron subvariants.
It is not thought that the new variant causes different symptoms to those already known to result from Omicron – the most reported of which are running noses, sneezing and sore throats.
The WHO report said: “Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to BA.2, however this finding requires further confirmation.
The UK Health Security Agency said on Monday the most recent data showed XE had a growth rate of 9.8 per cent above BA.2. However, it cautioned that “as this estimate has not remained consistent as new data have been added, it cannot yet be interpreted as an estimate of growth advantage for the recombinant.”
Daily new Covid cases in the UK have dropped after rising steeply during March, but 3.7 million people were still infected at the time of the latest Office for National Statistics review last week.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments