The world has been warned to “buckle up” after a rise in cases of another new Covid variant was found.
Given the code KP 3.1.1, the variant is a form of FliRT, which has already been spreading across the UK and worldwide. Now thought to be the cause of around half of Coronavirus cases in the US, officials are warning that a “summer wave” of infections could cause chaos.
Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, took to social media to warn of the variant, as it was seemingly “more of a challenge to our immune response than KP.3 and prior variants”.
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He warned: “Buckle up; this wave isn’t over yet [due to] KP.3.1.1’s emergence.”
As of August 2, daily infections rose to 900k in the US, with one out of every 37 people thought to have contracted it – a whopping 59% rise than the 12-month average for the country.
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Meanwhile, in the UK, up to and including July 12, the number of deaths over that seven day period with Covid-19 on the death certificate was 197 people. The week prior was 163, while June ended with 171. However, the 197 figure is the highest death toll since February 32, when 226 died, with an even higher 255 reported the week before – with 316 and 331 the two preceding weeks, respectively.
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The number of patients in hospital, which hasn’t been update since June 30, was hovering just below 3,000, at 2,047 at the end of last month. This was around 1,000 more than the start of June, but around 1,000 less than at the start of 2024.
And it led to Dr Nili Kaplan-Myrth to take to social media to urge people to “mask up”. She wrote, posting a photo of herself, her husband and daughter all wearing masks: “We’re all #Covid19 negative now, but as our daughter heads on the next adventure she’s chosen to continue to #MaskUp, as a role model for the students she’s travelling overseas with. Taking care of each other is that simple. #YallMasking.”
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