London, Europe Brief News – A new COVID variant XE is taking over the UK by storm. It is transmissible and more contagious than previous viruses. The XE variant is a combination of sub-variants of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2. The very first case is detected in the UK on January 19th, 2022 according to a report from World Health Organization. India has also reported the first case of the XE variant during this time.
As of now, a total of 600 cases have been identified. According to the UK health security agency the spread of this variant, XE in the UK is responsible for only 1% of cases. The development comes in as B.2 variant is taking over the USA and becoming very dominant. However, experts don’t see this virus as a threatening one. It will not bring a new surge in cases as such.
WHO is tracking this variant XE COVID very closely for now. The XE variant is a combination of omicron variants but has differences in transmission including the severity. This variant of COVID involves two different virus strains. According to a recent study, the genetic material is the same.
COVID Variant XE May Not Bring A Surge Worldwide
The world health organization is monitoring the XE variant. Only a few cases are reported in the UK while India and USA have also reported some cases of this variant. There is another variant called deltacron that is causing concern for everyone. Even though some cases of deltacron have appeared in the UK they aren’t a cause of concern.
According to experts, it is not an alarming situation as recombination of viruses is very much common. It is more like a mutational event. Dr. Jeremy Luban who is a disease specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School believes that XE can be dangerous. It is a powerful combination of omicron variants. If it starts spreading rapidly in the US it will be a cause of concern.
Dr. William believes that there is nothing to get alarmed about. There is still a lot to discover regarding COVID variant XE in UK. It may surprise us and we all have to wait and see how it turns out. He feels more concerned about BA.2 variant that is responsible for the rising cases in the USA.
BA.2 variant is causing the cases to rise in many different parts of the world. As of now only 637 cases of the XE variant are found in the UK. We may have to wait for more time to see how it affects us.
