A number of new Covid variants have been detected in the UK and Europe as cases continue to rocket across Britain.
Omicron BA.2 is currently the dominant variant in the UK, accounting for approximately 93.7 per cent of cases in England according to data from the Government body UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Although it appears to spread much quicker, and has being listed as a "variant of concern" there is no research to suggest there is a greater risk of hospitalisation, compared to Omicron BA.1.
As Covid variants encounter each other, they multiply and evolve by sharing their genome or characteristics, which results in a recombinant. The UKHSA's most recent analysis has determined three new recombinants, a term used when two variants merge, known as XF, XE, and XD. Of these, XD and XF are recombinants of Delta and Omicron BA.1, while XE is a recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2, reports the Sun.
