Named EG.5.1, the new variant is spreading fast, with countries such as the UK having sounded a health alert.
What’s WHO saying?

According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest weekly epidemiological report, EG.5.1 is showing an increasing trend.
The WHO added EG.5.1 to the list of variants under monitoring in July.
What’s different about it?
Nicknamed Eris, EG.5.1 is a sub-strain of Omicron XBB and has additional mutants on the spike protein S:F456L and S:Q52H.
Studies have shown that its speed of transmission is 45% more than XBB.1.16.

Where’s it spreading?
In the US, EG.5 is responsible for over 17.3% of all Covid-19 cases reported last week. EG.5 is now the most prevalent variant in the US.
In the UK, as of July 20, the EG.5.1 comprised 14.55% of all Covid-19 cases, with a small uptick in hospital admission rates.
What about India?
Covid cases are increasing in Maharashtra, which reported this variant first.The number of active Covid-19 cases increased from 70 at the end of July to 115 on August 6. The case count in the state Monday was 109.

Are symptoms different?
As with Omicron, the most common symptoms of EG.5.1 include runny nose, headache, fatigue (mild or severe), sneezing and sore throat.
Should we be worried?
Infectious disease experts say Indians are already armed with a very good natural immunity as most of us have been infected at least once or twice, and most of us are vaccinated.
But the authorities have to keep a close watch on hospitalisation trends to get an accurate picture of its spread.