A new Covid variant is spreading in England and is behind an outbreak at a care home in Norfolk, health officials say. There have been 34 confirmed cases of BA.2.86, with 28 of those at the care home. There have been no death
UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) said on Friday that 28 COVID-19 cases linked to the highly mutated variant BA.2.86 had been identified at a care home in Norfolk.
Six others have been reported elsewhere.
The Omicron offshoot carries more than 35 mutations in key
portions of the virus compared with XBB.1.5, the dominant variant through most
of 2023, a number roughly on par with the Omicron variant that caused record
infections.
Of the 34 confirmed cases identified as of Sept. 4, five
patients were hospitalised and no deaths had been linked to the new emerging
variant.
Moderna (MRNA.O) and rival Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Wednesday
their updated COVID-19 vaccines generated strong responses in testing against
the BA.2.86 subvariant.
BA.2.86 was first spotted in Denmark on July 24. It has
since been detected in other symptomatic patients, in routine airport
screening, and in wastewater samples in countries like Switzerland and South
Africa in addition to Israel, Denmark, and the U.S.
Based on the new data, it is early to draw any conclusions
about the behaviour of BA.2.86 in the wider UK population, but the variant may
be sufficiently transmissible in close contact setting, said the agency.
“It is clear that there is some degree of widespread
community transmission, both in the UK and globally, and we are working to
ascertain the full extent of this”, said Renu Bindra, incident director,
UKHSA.UK
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