Eris was classified as a Covid variant on July 31 after UKHSA recorded its prevalence in the country due to rising cases internationally, particularly in Asia.
A new Covid variant named EG.5.1 or ‘Eris’ is spreading quickly in the UK, according to the country’s health authorities. Eris descended from the Omicron variant. It was first flagged in the UK last month. As per the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Eris makes up one in seven new Covid cases.
Eris was classified as a variant on July 31 after UKHSA recorded its prevalence in the country due to rising cases internationally, particularly in Asia. “EG.5.1 was first raised as a signal in monitoring on July 3, 2023, as part of horizon scanning due to increasing reports internationally, particularly in Asia,” the UKHSA said. “Declaring this lineage as a variant will allow further detailed characterisation and analysis,” it added.
The EG.5.1 is being tracked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for a little over two weeks. At the time, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries shouldn’t be letting their guard down even though populations are now better protected by vaccines and earlier infections.
Eris symptoms
As per UK news outlet Independent, Eris or EG.5.1 variant, being a strain of Omicron, has the five most common symptoms of sore throat, headache, runny nose, sneezing and mild or severe fatigue.
How dangerous is Eris?
As per the latest UKHSA data, Eris accounts for 14.6 percent of all Covid cases in the UK. While Covid-19 case rates continued to increase, authorities found no indication that EG.5.1 is any more severe.
Despite the recent “small rise in hospital admission rates in most age groups, particularly among the elderly”, the “overall levels of admission still remain extremely low” and a similar increase has not been seen in ICU admissions.
However, the Independent quoted an expert, Prof Christina Pagel as saying that Omicron subvariants Arcturus and Eris are seeing another wave “definitely starting” in the UK. More details about Eris are expected to give a clearer picture.
(With inputs from PTI)
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