New Covid variant: How severe is the BQ1 Omicron strain?

A new Covid variant currently makes up about half of all cases in Britain, compared to 39 per cent last week.

The BQ1 variant of omicron poses a big challenge for people who are immunocompromised because of disease or medications. Treatments designed to prevent and treat infection in the immunocompromised won’t work against BQ1.

The new variant comes as flu cases have surged in London, with 10 times more beds occupied by flu patients last week compared with the same period last year.

Symptoms of BQ1 are similar to other Covid-19 variants and include fever, cough, exhaustion, congestion, sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, and headaches.

BQ1 is among the more than 300 sublineages of the omicron variant circulating globally, 95 per cent of which are direct descendants of BA5, according to the World Health Organization.

First detected in Nigeria in July, the BQ1 strain has since been detected in more than 50 countries.

It has been rising sharply in parts of Europe including the UK, as well as in the US.

Not much else is known about the BQ1 variant but the severity and duration of disease seem similar to the other omicrons, and milder than the original and delta variants.

It is not yet clear how these new versions of the coronavirus will impact the UK, where booster uptake has been slow and Covid mitigations such as masks and social distancing have largely been abandoned.

Health bosses are worried it could put more pressure on the NHS.

NHS England figures show a total of 4,964 people tested positive for the BQ1 variant as of November 30, an eight per cent rise on the previous week.

The number of hospital admissions has increased marginally, from 4.7 admissions per 100,000 individuals in the week ending November 27 to 4.5 the week before.