What is XFG Covid strain? Symptoms to look out for as UK cases grow
UK health officials report a significant rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, driven largely by the XFG 'Stratus' variant. While infections have increased sharply since August, they remain well below the peak levels seen in early 2021.
Why it matters
The surge highlights ongoing public health challenges as winter approaches and underscores the importance of seasonal vaccination programs.
More than half of the positive tests were found to be a variant of XFG
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Covid cases have more than doubled and hospital admissions are up five-fold this month, latest figures show.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monthly figures show that in August, 1,374 contracted Covid. In September, this jumped 230 per cent to 4,589.
These figures show there were 950 hospital admissions for Covid in August and the total jumped to 4,939 in September, up by around 420 per cent.
UKHSA revealed the rate of positive Covid tests in hospitals increased from 5.9 per cent to 7 per cent, according to the latest figures in September.
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