Covid-19 infections are steadily on the rise in Britain, with a new variant – the Eris strain, technically called EG.5.1 – now making up one in seven new cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Descended from the Omicron variant, the UKHSA has been monitoring Eris’ prevalence due to increasing cases internationally. It was classified as a variant in the UK on 31 July, and WHO data show it was first documented in mid-February this year, reports The Independent.
The surge in cases comes as estimated numbers jumped by almost 200 000 last month, from 606 656 predicted cases on 4 July to 785 980 on 27 July, according to The Zoe Health Study.
Eris is now the second most prevalent variant in the UK, after Arcturus, which comprises almost half of all infection cases at 39.4%, said UKHSA.
UK could be ‘flying blind’
Christina Pagel, a professor of operational research at University College London, believes Britain may be facing a new wave of Covid.
“What worries me most is that if we get a repeat of the last winter NHS crisis this winter again, with Covid, flu and RSV all hitting around the same time,” she said, “we are definitely flying almost blind.”
She said this could be triggered by falling immunity rates, new variants like Eris, and bad weather keeping people inside. “We might see the wave continue to grow, and grow faster, in September,” she said.
Cause for worry?
However, current research suggests Eris is not shaping up to be the mass infector its parent variant Omicron was in late 2021 to early 2022.
Speaking to The Independent, Professor Azeem Majeed, also of Imperial College London, said the WHO has designated EG.5 as a variant under monitoring (VUM) but not as a variant of concern (VOC), as Omicron was.
However, the UKHSA recommends continued diligence, and keeping away from others in the case of respiratory illness symptoms.
In numbers
Official UK Government data show Covid infections and related hospital admissions in England have been steadily rising since around the start of July – the first spike since a sharp increase in March, followed by a relatively sharp decrease by April.
In the past week, 4 076 people tested positive for Covid-19 in England, up 27.8% from the previous week. Meanwhile, 1 438 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital, a worrying 40.7% increase from the previous week.
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