Fast-spreading new coronavirus strain dubbed ‘variant of interest’

The World Health Organisation has classified a fast-spreading coronavirus strain circulating in the UK and the US as a “variant of interest”.

But it said the strain, known as EG.5 or Eris, did not seem to pose more of a threat to public health than other variants.

With an estimated more than 17 per cent of cases, the variant is now the most prevalent in the US and the second-most prevalent variant in the UK, after Arcturus.

It emerged as hospital admissions spiked amid bad weather and waning immunity in the UK this summer.

Certain areas have seen a particular increase in cases and hospital admissions over the school holidays.

Admissions rose to 1.97 per 100,000 as of 30 July 30, compared with 1.47 per 100,000 the previous week.

Hospitals in southwest England recorded the highest admission rate, with a 104 per cent increase in Covid cases in Devon.

Other Covid hot spots included Surrey, with a 103.3 per cent increase, and Derbyshire, with a 121.4 per cent increase, as well as Cornwall, Somerset, Staffordshire, Darlington and Cumbria.

Eris, named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord, also has been detected in China, South Korea, Japan and Canada, among other countries.

“Collectively, available evidence does not suggest that EG.5 has additional public health risks relative to the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages,” health chiefs said.

A more comprehensive evaluation of the risk posed by EG.5 was needed, they added.

Covid-19 has killed more than 6.9 million people globally, with more than 768 million confirmed cases since the virus emerged. The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a pandemic in March 2020 and ended the global emergency status for it in May this year.

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