The new variant of Covid BA.2.86 with many mutations is spreading in the community and hospitalizing five people
A new Covid variant with significant mutations is believed to have spread into “community transmission” and five people have been hospitalized, health chiefs warned on Friday.
Britain’s Health Security Agency said 34 cases of the BA.2.86 strain had been detected in England, including an outbreak affecting 28 people in a nursing home.
It added that there is now likely to be community transmission of this variant in the country.
Health chiefs stressed there is currently insufficient evidence to know whether the variant has changed clinical severity or will become dominant in the UK.
Further testing is underway
Of the 34 cases, five people were hospitalized and no deaths from Covid-19 were reported.
The UKHSA further stated that multiple independent cases in different regions with no reported travel history indicate some level of community transmission within the country.
28 cases were traced to a single outbreak at a nursing home in Norfolk. UKHSA specialists have been working with Norfolk County Council to offer infection control advice and support.
Nursing home staff and residents were urged by local health protection officials to undergo a PCR test when unusually high numbers of people became ill. Positive samples were sent to UKHSA laboratories for whole genome sequencing, where BA.2.86 was confirmed in most samples.
Dr. UKHSA Incident Director Renu Bindra said: “Although BA.2.86 has a significant number of mutations in the viral genome compared to other currently circulating COVID variants, data to date are too limited to draw firm conclusions about the impact, that this will have.” affect the transmissibility, severity or immune response properties of the virus.
“UKHSA scientists are working with international partners to culture the samples and analyze the evidence as it becomes available. However, it will probably be some time before we have enough data to make a confident assessment.
“It is clear that there is some widespread community transmission, both in the UK and globally, and we are working to determine the full extent of this transmission.” In the meantime, it remains important that everyone who is eligible stays safe report to receive their fall vaccine as soon as it is offered to them.”
The nursing home outbreak suggests that BA.2.86, which has been detected in a number of countries, may be sufficiently transmissible to impact close contact settings.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that the fall vaccination program would be brought forward to September 11 as a precautionary measure following the emergence of BA.2.86.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/covid-mutation-ba286-spread-community-care-home-hospital-b1105744.html The new variant of Covid BA.2.86 with many mutations is spreading in the community and hospitalizing five people
