As the new Covid-19 sub-variant ‘Eris’ spreads fast in the UK, there are concerns as to whether a fresh Covid wave can be caused in India and other countries. The World Health Organisation has urged the countries to not let their guard down. However, many experts in India say that it is unlikely that the new variant will cause any major harm to the Indian population.
The World Health Organisation has sounded alarm over the fast-spreading new variant of Covid-19. The United Kingdom has witnessed a spurt of cases as EG.5.1, nicknamed ‘Eris’, a sub-variant of the deadly Omicron was recognized last month.
The WHO has advised the countries to stay alert and follow Covid appropriate behaviour.
According to the UK Health Security Agency or UKHSA, 5.4 per cent of 4,396 respiratory specimens reported through the Respiratory DataMart System have been identified as Covid-19. The overall Covid hospital admission rate for week 30 has been 1.97 per 100,000 population, an increase from 1.17 per 100,000 in the previous report, the UKHSA said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the health organization is tracking the movement of the virus and current vaccination should be enough for protection, but the countries and their people should not let their guard down.
One in seven new cases of Covid-19
UKHSA has informed that presently, the Eris sub-variant is making one in seven new COVID cases.
“EG.5.1 was first raised as a signal in monitoring on July 3, 2023, as part of horizon scanning due to increasing reports internationally, particularly in Asia,” the UKHSA said.
“It was subsequently raised from a signal in monitoring to a variant V-23JUL-01 on July 31, 2023, due to the increasing number of genomes in UK data, and continued growth internationally. Declaring this lineage as a variant will allow further detailed characterization and analysis,” the report added.