A new variant of COVID-19 is being reported out of the United Kingdom dubbed Omicron XE.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) believes the variant is a variation of the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants.
In a report released on April 5, the UKSHA confirmed they have had 637 cases of the XE variant.
With the variant being relatively new, data on it is limited and the UKSHA is holding off on any official confirmation on the differences between this and other variants.
However, using the preliminary data they have theorized that XE is likely 9 per cent more transmissible than the other iterations of Omicron.
The World Health Organization has also confirmed the emergence of the new variant, reporting the first case was reported in the UK on January 19.
The WHO’s analysis fell closely in line with UKSHA’s early findings saying, “Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation.”.
No cases of the new variant have been reported outside of the UK so far.
