Five people have died in the UK after contracting the Arcturus Covid-19 strain, according to national reports. The variant has spread rapidly across the world and has led to face mask rules being introduced in India.
The Mirror reports Arcturus is present in all regions of England, with the exception of the North East. A technical briefing from the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), shows there are at at least 135 cases of the strain, known officially as Omicron XBB.1.16, in the country.
This was mostly concentrated in England, where there were 120 cases of the variant, but Wales had eight cases, Scotland had five, and Northern Ireland had two as well. As of earlier this month, Arcturus was present in at least 28 countries, with the majority of those cases, over 2,000, in India.
