Latest covid symptoms amid thousands of new cases and FLiRT variants

 
INA-sources
 
Thousands of new covid cases in the UK could be being driven by new variants of the disease.

Figures released by the UK Health Security Agency show there has been a sharp increase in covid cases week-on-week. The new variants could already be dominant as the number of people hospitalised with covid in England has also increased.

WalesOnline reports the spike could be caused by a mutation called FLiRT as three new FLiRT strains, KP.1.1, KP.3 and KP.2 now account for 40% of all cases in the UK. The figures were last updated at the end of April, meaning the strain could now be responsible for more than 50% of all cases and be dominant in the UK.
Earlier this month, Professor Christina Pagel, of University College London, told i: "I think we are at the start of a covid wave driven by the FLiRT variants which are quite likely to be at about 50% of total infections now."
 
The UKHSA reports a 21.2% week-on-week increase in covid cases in England, and a 73% increase in patients admitted to hospital with covid. There were also 106 new covid deaths, though this is down from 109 in the previous week.
 
Source: Yahoo News