London, Europe Brief News – Health authorities have found a new coronavirus variant spreading in the UK.
They say this mutant appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron. So far, BA.2 is the most contagious of all the COVID-19 variants.
The newly identified XE variant is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, referred to as a “recombinant”. As per the initial studies, the XE variant has a growth rate of 9.8 percent over that of BA.2, also known as the stealth variant because of its ability to evade detection, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSCA) has said.
Here’s all you need to know about the mutant:
— 637 new cases have been reported in UK until March 2, stated the health body. But most cases are coming from the East of England, London, and the South East so far.
— The UK has experienced a record surge in COVID-19 cases in the past week. The Office for National Statistics said that one in every 13 people – or 4.9 million – had the virus in the week ending March 26.
— However, the XE variant has been found in less than 1 percent of the total sequenced cases.
— XE was first detected via sequencing on January 19 this year.
— While the Office for National Statistics has found the growth rate of XE to be around 10 percent above the BA.2 variant, authorities said it is too early to suggest how contagious is the new mutant.
— Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has stated that the latest mutant may be more transmissible than the previous ones.
— The authorities detected two more hybrid strains in the UK. They are XD and XF. While XD is a mutation between the French Delta and BA.1 lineage of the Omicron variant, XF evolved as a hybrid form of the UK Delta and BA.1 lineage.
