‘Wake up call’ as new Covid variant accounts for a third of hospital admissions

A leading virologist has warned that COVID-19 ‘hasn’t gone away’ as a new variant of the illness makes its way across the UK and Ireland.

KP.3 is a subvariant of the highly contagious Omicron strain, with UK hospitals recording a 24% increase in admissions within the last week.

The strain has made its way over from the US, which saw COVID-19 cases surge by 69% recently as a result of the subvariant and other strains.

KP.3 accounted for a third of infections in the US at the start of June, with the virus strain making its way over to the UK and Ireland in recent weeks.

Professor Lawrence Young of Warwick University branded it ‘a wake up call’ as he noted the virus hadn’t gone away and was ‘certainly not a seasonal infection.’

Speaking to i, the virologist said: ‘A combination of new, more infectious virus variants and waning immunity is very likely contributing to these increased levels of infections.

‘The hope is that this will not result in a big wave of infection but we need to keep a close watch.’

Earlier in the month, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre confirmed that COVID-19 cases were up by almost 200 a week recently.

There were 502 cases reported in the week of June 2, compared to 306 cases the week previous.

There were no ICU admissions and no deaths reported, however.

The last substantial waves of Covid-19 were seen last December and in January.

However, the HPSC said spring and summer waves tend to be smaller than winter waves.

Canadian author Margaret Atwood – the acclaimed writer of The Handmaid’s Tale has been forced to postpone her appearance at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre this Sunday after she contracted Covid-19.

She was due to speak at An Evening With Margaret Atwood, Laurie Anderson and Mary Robinson but, following medical advice, she is unable to travel to Dublin.