A new highly contagious Covid variant could cause a wave of infections this summer, scientists warned.
Namynchronized ‘Nimbus’, the trunk is descended from the super virulent Omicron and has already activated an increase in cases in China, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also show 13 cases of Nimbus, scientifically known as NB1.8.1, have already been detected in England.
And 25 British samples of the tribe have been presented to an international Covid database since the end of March.
Both figures, however, are probably an underestimation of how far the variant has spread, given that testing is massively reduced from the height of the pandemic.
Other UKHSA data show that the percentage of people who test positive for COVID has risen to the highest point this year and is already 97 percent higher than the level registered in March.
Now British scientists have warned that Nimbus can lead to an increase in Covid cases within a few weeks and have insisted on the vulnerable to be vaccinated.
They warn that the immunity of many people against the virus, made up of earlier infections and older Jabs, is probably blurred, which means that they can run a higher risk to get sick.
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Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, said that Nimbus had the potential to make an increase in cases as it warms up and people become more social.
‘We are probably a peak of infections in the coming months, possibly later this month or in July. But it’s hard to predict the level of this wave of infection, ” He told The i -paper.
“Population -immunity, either by vaccination or earlier infection, decreases and, in contrast to other breathing viruses such as flu, the Covid virus continues to spread in warm and humid weather,” he said.
He added that laboratory studies suggest that Nimbus can infect human cells more efficiently than earlier strains, and that it can have an increased ability to avoid the immune system, making it more likely to infect people.
There is currently no evidence that the tension causes serious illness or death in those who infect it compared to earlier strains.
However, infection with the virus can still be fatal for more vulnerable groups.
Covid was a factor in the death of just over 300 people in England in May, according to the last official figures.
Nimbus now accounts for 10.7 percent of COVID infections worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), compared to only 2.5 percent a month earlier.
Nimbus symptoms do not seem to differ from other Covid variants and include fatigue, fever, muscle pain and a sore throat
Last month the UN body declared the tribe a ‘variant under monitoring’.
This means that the WHO follows the virus, looking forward to signs that it could pose an important threat to the public that would promote it into a ‘variant of care’.
Experts have also said that the current COVID vaccines, which are formulated to combat Omicron descendants, are expected to remain effective against Nimbus.
Nimbus symptoms do not seem to differ from other Covid variants and include fatigue, fever, muscle pain and a sore throat.
UKHSA data about COVID tests, who go until 1 June, show 6.1 percent of the people tested that week, positive for the virus, the highest rating for 2025 so far.
This is an increase of seven percent compared to last week’s figure and an increase of 97 percent compared to that recorded at the beginning of March.
Dr. Gayatri Amunderingam, Deputy Director of Ukhsa, said that the organization was closely monitoring Nimbus.
“Ukhsa follows all available data with regard to SARS-COV-2 variants in the UK and abroad, and we continue to publish our findings in our regular flu and COVID-19 surveillance devices,” she said.
‘NB.1.8.1 has so far been detected in small numbers in the UK, but international data suggests that it is growing as a part of all COVID-19 cases.’
Currently adults older than 75, the staff of the care home and people with a weakened immune system are eligible for a free Covid vaccine In Britain.
UKHSA data suggesting that people who had a Covid -JAB as part of last spring Booster campaign were 45 percent less likely to need hospital care for the virus in the weeks that followed compared to the non -vaccinated person.
The agency has urged all people who are eligible for a vaccine to prick themselves to protect itself against both NB.1.8.1 and COVID in general.
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