The Latest Breaking News from Omicron

In a throwback to January 2020, when the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 began to be detected outside of China, many countries have again adopted measures targeted at travellers from China. These measures include flight restrictions, pre-departure testing and blanket entry bans.

Around 11 per cent of Greater Manchester's approximately 5,000 hospital beds are currently occupied by patients with Covid

XBB.1.5 is the most highly transmissible version we've seen of the Covid-19 virus. It's also very good at evading immune defenses.

The latest variant to worry health professionals and virologists alike is XBB.1.5

A new study breaks down the quickly spreading variants’ common symptoms among 85 patients. Only three died.

A mutated version of the Omicron variant is sweeping across China, the USA, and now, cases have been identified in the UK

There's a reason the sub-variant was named after a mythological creature

The XBB. 1.5 sub-lineage has been reported to have a "growth advantage" which could see it dominate the UK

The current dominant variants, BQ.1 and its sub-lineages, could be overtaken by different Omicron strains.

Kraken is a mutated subvariant of XBB - which is able to evade our immune systems

The heavily mutated omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was first detected in late 2021.