The new Covid variant XE was first reported in the UK.
Mumbai:
- The World Health Organization has said the latest mutant may be more transmissible than the previous ones.
- WHO said early estimates suggest that XE is 10 per cent more contagious than BA.2 (Omicron). However, the global health body has said that this finding requires further confirmation.
- XE is a "recombinant" which is a mutation of BA'1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, said that UK's Health Security Agency. Recombinant mutations emerge when a patient is infected by multiple variants of Covid.
- The Chief Medical Advisor at the UK Health Security agency said that recombinant variants usually die off relatively quickly. "So far there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about transmissibility, severity or vaccine effectiveness," Professor Susan Hopkins told 'The Sun'.
- According to the UK health agency, while there are signs of "community transmission" of XE in England, it remains less than 1 per cent of the total Covid cases in the country.
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