Covid – latest: Eris variant sparks fears of new rise in cases as UK sees spike in infections

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Independent Sage member Prof Christina Pagel told The Independent she believes the UK is “definitely starting another wave” driven by Omicron subvariants, Arcturus and Eris, waning immunity and poor weather.

She said: “The wet weather over the last few weeks probably isn’t helping either as it keeps people inside.”

However, there is a possibility that the spread of the variant may slow down over the summer holidays with schools closed and people travelling abroad.

“It is likely to be dominant by September when kids return to school and adults to work or university, plus we start spending much more time inside,” she said.

The Covid expert added that “most people are now over 18 months from their last vaccine” and the majority of people are also “ several months out from their last infection too”. Thus, we could see the wave “grow faster” in September.

The UK has seen a recent resurgence of Covid, with a spike in infections and yet another new variant emerging this summer.

Eris, a descendant of the Omicron variant, now accounts for as many as one in seven cases after it was reported for the first time in July.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

A new Covid variant dubbed Eris has emerged as hospital admissions spike amid bad weather and waning immunity this summer.

A descendant of Omicron, Eris, or EG.5.1, was first classified as a variant in the UK on 31 July, but now accounts for one in 10 Covid cases.

It is now the second most prevalent variant in the UK, after Arcturus which makes up almost half of all infection cases at 39.4 per cent, according to UKHSA.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

A state-of-the-art vaccine research facility, where scientists will work to ensure future pandemics are stopped in their tracks and do not cause the same disruption to everyday life as Covid-19, has been unveiled by the government.

The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) is based at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) science and defence technology campus Porton Down, near Salisbury in Wiltshire.

Live viruses will be kept on-site in specialist containment facilities, with researchers looking at pathogens that do not yet have a vaccine, or ones where immunisation could be improved, such as flu, mpox or hantavirus.

Storm Newton reports:

Christina Pagel, a professor of operational research at University College London, has explained her view that the UK may be facing new wave of Covid.

“What worries me most is if we get a repeat of the last winter NHS crisis this winter again, with Covid, flu and RSV all hitting around the same time,” she tells the Guardian, “we are definitely flying near blind.”

Pagel explains that this could be triggered by falling immunity rates, new variants like Eris, and poor weather keeping people inside. “We might see the wave continue to grow, and grow faster, in September,” she said.

As a strain of Omicron, the symptoms for Eris are fairly similar. Everything we know:

With Covid-19 cases steadily climbing for the past couple of weeks, experts are looking for answers. Some have turned to an unexpected possibility:

The UKHSA has indicated that further booster vaccines will be rolled out in Autumn of this year, to bolster vulnerable people in the UK’s immunity against all strains of Covid:

“The NHS will be in contact in autumn 2023 when the seasonal vaccine is available for those who are eligible due to health conditions or age, and we urge everyone who is offered to take up the vaccine when offered.”

Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 vaccination on the JCVI, said:

“The COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to reduce severe disease across the population, while helping to protect the NHS.”