Eris: What is EG.5.1, New Covid Variant Spreading Rapidly in UK?

Eris is a new coronavirus variant that has emerged in the United Kingdom and is rapidly spreading among people of all age groups.

A new covid variant, EG.5.1 nicknamed Eris is rapidly spreading across the United Kingdom. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has revealed that one in seven covid cases in the country is now attributed to the Eris variant. This new variant has become the second most prevalent strain in UK and disturbingly making its presence felt in Europe, Asia and North America. In Japan, a “ninth wave” of the virus has begun.

As per the data available on the UKSHA website, in the second week of July 11.8% of UK sequences had been classified as EG.5.1. “EG.5.1 was first raised as a signal in monitoring on 3 July 2023 as part of horizon scanning due to increasing reports internationally, particularly in Asia. It was subsequently raised from a signal in monitoring to a variant V-23JUL-01 on 31 July 2023 due to the increasing number of genomes in UK data, and continued growth internationally,” UKSHA says.

Dr. Mary Ramsay, head of immunization at the UKHSA, expressed concern over the rising Covid-19 cases in the latest report. While there has been a slight increase in hospital admission rates across most age groups, particularly among the elderly, she assured that overall admission levels remain extremely low. The situation is closely being monitored and there hasn’t been any similar case in ICU admissions.

Eris Variant: Causes, Symptoms, And Prevention

While the root cause of the recent spike in cases is yet to be confirmed, health experts revealed that bad weather conditions and waning immunity has a huge role to play. In an interview with the MailOnline, Professor Lawrence Young of Warwick University noted that poor weather has led to more indoor activities like going to cinema halls or attending public events. This has turned people more prone to contracting the virus.

The best way to protect oneself from this new variant is through proper sanitization and maintaining social distance in case symptoms develop. So far, there are no reports mentioned regarding the symptoms that are specific to Eris but it is believed that the strain can exhibit itself by presenting common flu-like symptoms, similar to that of covid.