Covid instances surge as new variant takes UK maintain – males extra inclined than ladies

The newest strain of coronavirus is running wild across the UK, but new data shows that men are more likely to get it than woman.

Despite largely being removed from the every day lives of most Brits, Covid-19 is still around and cases have shot up a lot in recent weeks thanks to a series of new strains. The KP. 3 variant, part of a new group of variants known as FLiRT, emerged in early April.

The name of these variants was inspired by the mutations in their genetic code and they are an offshoot from JN.1 – a variant that could transmit efficiently through one or two additional mutations.

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As of April 2024, three strains of the FLiRT variant have been responsible for 40% of all Covid cases in the UK, namely KP.1.1, KP.3 and KP.2, as per data from the UK Health Security Agency. KP. 2 is believed to have sparked a surge of infections in May before handing over to KP.3, which has almost doubled UK infections to 44% in less than a fortnight.

Meanwhile, KP.2’s share has dropped to 22%, yet hospital admissions increased by 24% in the week leading up to Sunday, rising from 2.67 people per 100,000 to 3.31 per 100,000, according to fresh figures from the UKHSA.

However, new data from the UKHSA has shown that man are far more likely to catch the new strain than woman. From June 1 to June 19, the the amount of females contracting the virus per 100,000 has come from 2.76 to 3.63, with a high of 2.98 report on June 18.

But for the males, that has gone from 3.11 on June 1 to 3.88 on June 19 – with a high of 4.4 reported just two days prior on June 17. The latest weekly death toll stands at 139 for the week ending June 7, with 110 the week priod, 138 for the week ending May 24, and 159 for the week before that.

The figures prompted expert Steven Griffin to issue a warning. The Leeds University Professor said: “Another wave [of Covid] is building. There is a considerable difference between the current vaccines and circulating viruses.”

The current list of Coronavirus symptoms is as follows:

• A high temperature or shivering (chills) – a high temperature means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

• A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours

• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

• Shortness of breath

• Feeling tired or exhausted

• An aching body

• A headache

• A sore throat

• A blocked or runny nose

• Loss of appetite

• Diarrhoea

• Feeling sick or being sick

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