Arcturus: What is the new Covid variant causing a surge in cases?

New Covid strain, Arcturus, is already causing a surge of cases in India, and it’s thought to be 1.2 times more contagious than the last Omicron subvariant.

It’s been detected in 22 countries so far including the UK and US, with India reporting 40,215 active Covid cases on 12 April - prompting strict measures to be brought back.

“It has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which, in lab studies, shows increased infectivity”, says Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for Covid, adding it’s been in circulation ‘for a few months’.

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