Covid Omicron strain XBB.1.5 in Australia: NSW Health confirms highly transmissible ‘Kraken’ cases
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Covid’s new ‘Kraken’ mutant strain has landed in Australia as health authorities confirm it’s the most transmissible yet: here’s what you need to know
- XBB.1.5 Omicron sub-variant found in tests in Australia before Christmas
- Nicknamed ‘the kraken’, it is believed to be responsible for 70% of new cases in the US.
- It is not believed to be any more deadly than previous strains, but it is spreading faster.
The most communicable form of covid seen in the three years since the pandemic began was detected in Australia before Christmas.
A “small number” of cases of the rogue XBB.1.5 subvariant were detected in the two weeks leading up to December 24, New South Wales Health confirmed in a statement Thursday morning.
While there are no signs that the latest strain, dubbed ‘kraken’, is any worse than recent Covid versions, fears are rising that it could act as a ‘gateway’ to a scarier sub-variant.
The newest and most transmissible form of Covid seen in the three years since the pandemic began, XBB.1.5, also known as ‘the Kraken’, was detected in Australia before Christmas.
The idea is that the more infections that occur, the more opportunities the virus has to mutate and evolve.
In total, 59,652 people in NSW were diagnosed with Covid-19 in the two weeks to 31 December 2022 in NSW.
While the BR.2 subvariant was the most common found in new cases, XBB.1.5 was present after taking hold in the United States and emerging in Great Britain.
While there are concerns about how quickly XBB.1.5 spreads, it appears to be as mild as its predecessor Omicron and its other variants.
“NSW Health continues to monitor emerging subvariants, including XBB.1.5, of which there have been a small number of detections in the two weeks to 24 December 2022,” the department announced.
XBB.1.5 is another derivative of Omicron and it has already taken hold in the US, where it is believed to be behind about 70 percent of new infections in the hardest-hit areas.
It has also been collected in Great Britain and throughout Europe, in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, and in Singapore and India.
But XBB.1.5 seems to be as light as its predecessor Omicron and its variants.
Early concern about the new sub-variant based on how it is currently emerging in the US and Europe.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for Covid, told a news conference on Wednesday: “We are concerned about its growth advantage particularly in some countries in Europe and in the US…particularly in the northeastern part of the United States, where XBB.1.5 has quickly replaced other circulating variants.
“Our concern is how transmissible it is…and the more this virus circulates, the more opportunity it has to change.”
Statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the strain is behind 41 percent of cases in the United States.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, told MailOnline that the appearance of XBB.1.5 is a “wake-up call” and could exacerbate Britain’s NHS crisis.
He said: ‘The XBB.1.5 variant is highly infectious and is driving an increase in hospital admissions in New York, particularly among the elderly.
“Lower immunity, more indoor mixing due to cold weather, and a lack of other mitigations such as wearing face masks are also contributing to this increase in infections in the US.”