If you’ve struggled to keep up to date with every new emerging Covid strain, we don’t blame you. It feels like they’re continually cropping up left, right and centre, but the most recent variant has drawn particular attention.
‘Arcturus’, or XBB.1.16, is a subvariant of Omicron and is thought to spread at a faster rate than previous strains. It comes with pretty much the same symptoms that we’re all used to, but some cases have also seen patients suffering with conjunctivitus. India has been particularly affected. while in the UK the strain now makes up one in 40 new cases and five people have died.
Professor Stephen Griffin, virologist and chair of Independent SAGE (a group of scientists providing independent Covid-related advice), has encouraged adults to wear a well-fitted N95 mask or high-quality mask when in ‘poorly ventilated indoor spaces or public transport’. Mask laws have already been reintroduced in some states in India.
Griffin told Mail Online: ‘This may seem like a throwback to last year, but the reality is the virus continues to do harm and those least able to cope continue to suffer.
‘In the absence of population-scale mitigations... the focus remains upon individual risk which is, for many, now much lower.
‘If [the] government won’t act to enable everyone to live with Covid, vulnerable people will continue to require precautions and, ideally, others will act with an appropriate level of altruism.’
People are also encouraged to keep testing and isolate themselves if they suspect they have caught the virus.
As it stands, there’s nothing to suggest that Arcturus is any more deadly than previous variants and other experts have said that there is no reason to panic.
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