Pirola, the new Covid variant dubbed the ‘real deal’ by experts, may not be as dangerous as initially feared, new data suggests.
Early results from a US lab found those who had previously been infected with Covid or had a jab had a similar level of immunity to other fellow Omicron Covid variants.
While this won’t stop people from catching the virus, it suggests the UK’s wall of immunity should still help prevent many people from becoming severely ill.
Experts
The heavily-mutated Covid variant dubbed the ‘real deal’ has now been spotted in Sweden and Canada, with global cases doubling in a week.
BA.2.86, nicknamed Pirola, was first detected in Israel and Denmark earlier this month, unsettling a swathe of top scientists who are worried that its catalogue of mutations could see it spark another wave.
The strain, a spin-off of the Omicron variant, has already been spotted in the UK, US, Israel, Denmark, South Africa, Portugal, Thailand and Switzerland.
The number of neighbourhoods hit by Covid outbreaks in England has doubled in a fortnight, MailOnline can reveal amid fears the ‘real deal’ variant may be sweeping the country.
Nearly 600 districts reported clusters in the week to August 12, up from just 270 two weeks earlier.
Hospital admissions are also rising sharply, sparking concerns that the UK is on the brink of another wave just as the country heads into the autumn when the NHS gets busier.
Experts have
Fears of a fresh Covid resurgence were today heightened after the discovery of a new variant thought to be the ‘real deal’.
Scientists have already called for the return of face masks because of the spin-off strain — yet to be officially named but dubbed BA.6.
Others, however, warned it is far too early to panic and argued that pandemic-era restrictions won’t be needed.
Covid hospitalisation rates are already starting to shoot up, sparking concern that the UK is on
New variant does not currently prompt concern
Medical experts have said that EG.5 does not seem to cause more severe illness than previous strains of the coronavirus, and no figures from the White House or Capitol Hill have issued strong statements on the matter. The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The World Health Organization has begun tracking EG.5, but has not labeled it as a variant of interest or concern. In comparison, the XBB.1.5 strain,
A new Covid variant is now dominant in the US, which may explain why rates are rising for the first time this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that as of Friday, more than one in six Covid cases are projected to be caused by Omicron subvariant EG.5 — more than any other variant. One strain, EG.5.1, has been nicknamed ‘Eris’.
Experts have said that EG.5 is one of the quickest growing variants across the world,
Another Covid variant is taking off in Britain — but experts have today insisted there is nothing to panic about.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses have raised the alarm about Eris, saying it already makes up one in eight new cases after reaching the UK towards the end of May.
Hospitalisation rates are also starting to shoot up, sparking concern that the nation may be on the brink of being hit by a fresh wave.
However, experts today claimed
A Covid variant seen in Indonesia might be the most mutated version of the virus ever recorded, scientists think.
The morphed version of Delta — collected from a patient swab in Jakarta — has 113 unique mutations.
Thirty-seven of the alterations affect the spike protein, which the coronavirus uses to latch onto humans.
For comparison, Omicron carries around 50 mutations.
Virus-trackers brandished the unnamed strain the ‘most extreme’ they’ve ever seen.
A new version of the Covid Delta variant collected
* „Wie könnte ich nein sagen“, sagte Bassist Michael Feinberg über seinen Plattenvertrag mit Criss Cross Jazz und die darauffolgende Veröffentlichung seines Solo-Debütalbums „Blues-Variante.“ „Dieses spezielle Label … hat ikonische Künstler des Jazz hervorgebracht. Hier wollte ich schon immer unter Vertrag stehen.“
Michaels Debüt „Blues Variant“ wird von Noah Preminger (Saxophon) und Leo Genovese (Klavier) unterstützt. An dem Projekt sind auch Dave Liebman (Schlagzeug) und Nasheet Waits (Schlagzeug) beteiligt.
After all Covid restrictions were finally dropped under Boris Johnson’s plan to live with the virus last year, many assumed Britain had seen the back of pandemic-era curbs.
But with the NHS battling its worst-ever crisis, the threat of some restrictions being brought back has reared its head again.
The virus’ resurgence is one of several factors piling pressure on the crippled health service. Experts have warned the new XBB.1.5 variant, nicknamed ‘the Kraken’, may exacerbate the current dire situation.
