SOME 23 cases of the contagious new Covid 'FLiRT' variants have been confirmed in Ireland. There are fears that the KP.1.
1 and KP.2 variants could be more transmissible and better at escaping immunity than other waves of the virus. The HSPC has confirmed 23 confirmed cases of the strain detected in the country in a new update.
Both of the new variants are offshoots of the JN.1 variant, which are part of the broader Omicron family. A spokesperson for the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention explained that viruses "constantly change" through mutation and sometimes these mutations result in a new variant of the virus.
They continued: "Some changes and mutations allow the virus to spread more easily or make it resistant to treatments or vaccines. "As the virus spreads, it may change and become harder to stop.” Some 113 cases were confirmed to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre this week - with 9.
7 per cent of people who took a PCR test having a positive Covid result in the last week. As of this morning, there were 139 confirmed cases of Covid in hospital with five people fighting for their lives in ICU as of 11:30am yesterday morning. There have been 6,581 Covid tests completed within the last seven days.
Symptoms of Covid-19 are similar to those of a cold, flu or hay fever. The HSE lists fatigue, a high temperature/having chills and a dry cough as the top three Covid symptoms to look out for. And despite the evolving variants now circulating, it is understood th.
