When you should worry about new Covid variant XFG.3 as strain with unexpected symptom spreads globally

Five years on from the outbreak of the pandemic, and Covid-19 has never really left, with health officials revealing that another strain of the respiratory virus is doing the rounds.

We might have forgotten the days of social distancing, mask mandates and stay-at-home orders, but a virus doesn't shut the world down and then vanish for good. Instead, the illness mutates and continues to circulate alongside other germs such as the flu or the common cold.

In the years since 'Stay at home. Save lives. Protect the NHS' was plastered all over our local communities and TV screens, we've weathered variants such as Delta and Omicron.

And now we have a new mutation to add to this list: XFG and XFG.3. So how serious are these new variants – and should we be worried?

What is the new Covid variant XFG and XFG.3?

Five years on from the pandemic and Covid is still lingering in the population (Getty Stock Images)

First recorded back in January this year, the new strain was declared a 'variant under monitoring' by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 25 June. The strain, which has been nicknamed 'Stratus', is believed to be a subvariant of Omicron.

According to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data, this new variant, which consists of the XFG and XFG.3 strains, is currently responsible for the majority of recorded Covid-19 cases in the UK, totalling 38.3 per cent and 32.8 per cent of cases respectively.

The health body also noted a 7.6 per cent increase in coronavirus cases across England by 10 September, compared to the previous week.

What are the symptoms of the XFG and XFG.3 strain?

New Status variant is currently the dominant strain in the UK (Getty Stock Images)

The majority of XFG and XFG.3 symptoms are believed to be the same as previous variants of Covid. This includes a cough, fever, fatigue, and a change in your sense of taste or smell.

However, health experts have noted one additional symptom, which is being attributed to the new strain, a hoarse voice.

Should we be worried about the new strain of Covid?

Given 2020's ability to completely upend every aspect of life as we know it, new Covid strains or virus outbreaks will understandably set off alarm bells for most of us.

However, the good news is that risks posed by the new Status variants have been labelled as 'low' by the WHO, with vaccinations believed to remain efficient in combating serious infection.

"Current data does not indicate that these variants lead to more severe illness than other variants in circulation," reads a UKHSA blog update.

However experts at the WHO and UKHSA have said the additional threat to the public is 'low' (Getty Stock Images)

"It’s normal for viruses to mutate and change, and as more data becomes available on these variants we’ll have a better understanding of how they interact with our immune systems and how to optimise our protection, as well as actions we can take to keep the most vulnerable safe and live our lives as normally as possible."

"Based on the available information so far, there is no evidence to suggest that the XFG and XFG.3 variants cause more severe disease than previous variants, or that the vaccines in current use will be less effective against them," added Dr Alex Allen, a consultant epidemiologist of the UKHSA.

How quickly is the new strain of Covid spreading?

While exact figures on Covid infections are harder to gauge due to a decrease in testing, infections from the newer strains are currently estimated to make up the majority of cases in the UK.

As for the speed at which the virus spreads, experts have pointed to two factors: a decrease in immunity and an increase in exposure to the virus.

A rise in respiratory diseases typically occurs around this time of year, as children return to schools and temperatures decrease.

“Reporting rates have been around base levels for almost a year now and so population immunity will be relatively low,” Prof Hunter added to The Telegraph.

"Immunity to infection probably lasts only a few months on average."