A new fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus has been identified: the XE variant has been detected so far in 637 patients across the country, according to the latest figures from the UK’s Health Security Agency, which according to the evidence is currently insufficient to draw conclusions. about disease transmission or severity. CNBC.
XE is a previously highly contagious Omicron BA.1 strain, which appeared in late 2021, and the most recent”stealthily“It contains a mixture of the BA.2 variant, which is the variant currently prevalent in the UK. A new recombinant variant is a type of variant that can occur when an individual is infected with two or more variants at the same time and substances are mixed in the patient’s body, and such recombinants Common, many of which have developed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Data regarding the severity of the new variant and its ability to circumvent vaccines are not yet clear, but preliminary estimates indicate that it may be more contagious than previous strains. According to UKHSA data, the growth rate of XE is 9.8 per cent higher than BA.2, while the World Health Organization has so far set it at 10 per cent.
Health authorities said they continue to monitor the situation.
The first confirmed case of XE in Britain occurred on January 19 this year, indicating that the virus may have been circulating in the population for several months now. In addition to the UK, it has already been discovered in Thailand.
The number of cases in the UK has risen again recently. However, the confirmed XE variant currently accounts for less than 1 percent of all Covid infections that have undergone genetic sequencing.
According to the Office for National Statistics, on March 26, 4.9 million people in the UK, or 1 in 13 people, were infected with the coronavirus – a record number since the survey began in April 2020. Meanwhile, the number of hospital admissions rose more than 7% to Over 16,500 last week.
