A new strain of Covid looks set to spark a fresh wave of coronavirus across the UK and is likely to result in more people going to hospital, according to experts. The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is now the dominant strain in the USA with 40% of Covid cases linked to the mutation - up from 4% at the start of December.
A number of cases of the variant have been detected in the UK, reports the BBC. Prof Wendy Barclay from Imperial College London told the BBC that XBB.1.5 has a mutation known as F486P, which allows it to evade immunity and spread more easily.
Scientists from the World Health Organisation say XBB.1.5 has a "growth advantage" above all other sub-variants seen so far. The UK Health Security Agency is to release a report on variants and subvariants in the UK next week.
Prof Barclay said she expects more hospitalisations in the UK if the variant takes off here.
Prof Paul Hunter from the University of East Anglia, told the BBC: "The balance of probabilities is that XBB.1.5 will trigger a wave here later this month, but we can't be sure."
Speaking to The Independent, University of Warwick virologist Professor Lawrence Young said: "There’s no evidence it’s causing more severe disease compared to other Omicron variants. However, the fact that it’s spreading more and more rapidly, particularly in the US, is very concerning. It’s reaching out to more vulnerable people.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid said: "Our concern is how transmissible it is. The more this virus circulates, the more chances it will have to change... It is the most transmissible form of Omicron to date.”
She added: “'We are concerned about its growth advantage in particular in some countries in Europe and in the US... particularly the Northeast part of the United States, where XBB.1.5 has rapidly replaced other circulating variants.”
