A new Covid variant called Arcturus has been found in the UK amid growing concerns about its rapid spread.
The recent rise in cases in India has forced some parts of the country to roll back mandatory face mask rules, reports The Mirror.
The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16 – first identified on January 23 this year – has attracted the attention of experts around the world. Arcturus has been detected in at least 22 countries so far.
It has been classified as a Variant of Interest by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) technical lead for the COVID response, said: “This is one to watch. We’re monitoring it because it has potential changes that we need to keep a good eye out on,” reports The Mirror.
No cases of the variant have been confirmed here, according to the latest figures from Ireland’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
Today the UK Health Protection Agency confirmed that it has a presence in the country and that there are currently fewer than 100 confirmed cases.
The UKHSA said in publicly available documents that it had been spotted in the UK over the past 12 weeks.
This comes after a recent spike in India, where the number of variants rose by 3,122 in a single day.
India’s Health Ministry launched a mock exercise this week to see if hospitals are ready to deal with the potential influx of patients.
Some states have made face coverings mandatory in public for the first time in more than a year.
One example is India’s southern state of Kerala, where Health Minister Veena George reinstated masks for the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying medical conditions, reports The Mirror.
Officials are now urging states to step up testing for the virus.
Meanwhile, there were 682 new confirmed cases of Covid in Ireland between April 2nd and April 8th. According to HPSC, this is a 40.7% drop compared to the previous week. The Easter Bank Holiday weekend may have influenced coverage.
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