Arcturus could cause Britain’s Covid cases to soar, according to experts who have warned ‘we’re not out of the woods yet’.
The Omicron spinoff — dubbed XBB.1.16 — is considered the most contagious variant to date.
It has sparked an explosion of infections in India over the past month, with some of the hardest-hit states opting to bring back face masks to contain their rapid spread and putting hospitals on red alert.
Frontline doctors say they’ve seen an increase in infected children with conjunctivitis, suggesting Arcturus may be causing different symptoms than other variants.
MailOnline revealed yesterday that the species – believed to be no more deadly than those currently in circulation – is already present in Britain.
A separate Covid monitoring project, led by health tech firm ZOE, has found rates have fallen since March. It predicts around 1.26 million people in the UK will have symptomatic Covid as of yesterday, nearly 300,000 fewer than the 1.49 million reported at the end of March
Current levels are similar to those seen in mid-January, when cases fell from the winter peak of about 1.7 million, according to ZOE data. The latest Covid wave appears to have peaked at the end of December with 2.5 million infections in England
Since the first discovery in March, nearly 50 cases have been reported.
Since then, infection rates have fallen, although scientists have warned that could change.
Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, told MailOnline: ‘I suspect we will see a wave of infections with this variant.
“I doubt it will create a big wave, probably not even as big as the one we just had in the UK.”
He added that as a result it is ‘probably’ not going to put much additional pressure on the ailing NHS, which has struggled during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist from the University of Warwick, told The Independent: ‘We need to keep an eye on it.
“Things like this highlight the importance of genomic surveillance, but many countries, including ours, have let our guard down a bit.
“And we can’t know for sure what variants exist and what level of infection they cause until we see a significant outbreak.”
The government has repeatedly insisted that it will never return to pandemic-era measures unless a doomsday scenario emerges.
Top scientists have warned they don’t expect the variant to be more deadly than other strains currently in circulation, which cause a much milder illness very similar to the flu.
The latest Covid wave in England appears to have peaked at the end of December, when 2.5 million people are thought to have been infected.
Although there was a slight uptick a few weeks ago that seems to have faded now.
Officials are no longer tracking the prevalence of the virus in the same way they used to, as part of the government ushering in pre-pandemic normalities.
Variation tracking capabilities have also been scaled back.
The only form of surveillance left is NHS hospital records, which show that as of April 6, 6,829 beds are currently occupied by patients with confirmed Covid.
A separate Covid monitoring project, led by health tech firm ZOE, has found rates have fallen since March.
It predicts around 1.26 million people in the UK will have symptomatic Covid as of yesterday, almost 300,000 lower than the 1.49 million at the end of March.
Current levels are similar to those seen in mid-January, when cases fell from the winter peak of about 1.7 million, according to ZOE data.
In India, Arcturus is believed to have single-handedly caused a 13-fold increase in cases within a month.
India’s health ministry reported 10,158 new cases of Covid today alone, almost double the number (5,335) reported a week ago on April 6.
Maharashtra and Delhi also reported more than 1,000 daily cases yesterday, for the first time this year.
These Covid cases could be those who test positive while feeling unwell at home as well as those who are in hospital.
Separate figures from the Oxford University-run platform Our World in Data show that there were 5,555 new daily cases two days ago on April 11, compared to 353 recorded a month earlier.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently monitoring Arcturus, also known as XBB.1.16, which was first discovered in late January. Officials said it had some worrying mutations.
The UK Health and Security Agency said the variant was already in the UK in its latest variant report released last month.
Typical symptoms of Covid include high fever, cough, cold and loss of taste or smell.
But Vipin Vashishtha, a pediatrician consultant at Mangla Hospital and Research Center and a former civil servant at the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, revealed that symptoms affecting children’s eyes have seen a sudden rise.
Vipin Vashishtha, pediatrician consultant at Mangla Hospital and Research Center and former president of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics revealed that symptoms affecting children’s eyes have seen a sudden rise
Analysts from the Office for National Statistics estimated that nearly 1.7 million Britons were carrying the virus on any given day of the week up to March 13. This is an increase of almost 14 percent compared to the previous week
“An infantile phenotype appears to be emerging,” he wrote on Twitter.
He is now seeing a rise in cases of ‘itchy’ conjunctivitis or ‘sticky eyes’, a symptom he had not seen during previous Covid waves.
Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the non-profit research institute RTI International, based in the US, also told Fortune magazine that he had heard such reports.
But it’s “probably too early to tell” whether the symptoms of the virus have really shifted, he noted.
Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology, added that there are currently “many anecdotes about childhood conjunctivitis in India.”
Like similar new Covid variants, virus trackers online decided to name XBB.1.16 ‘Arcturus’ following a pattern of naming new strains after mythological entities.
Arcturus means ‘Guardian of the Bear’ and is related to the constellation Ursa Major.