![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/is-your-summer-cold-actually-new-covid-variant-eris-as-cases-surge/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/portrait-young-black-woman-sneezing-767088260.jpg&description=SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Published : 17:13, 15 Aug 2023 IT'S time to stock up on tissues, paracetamol and Covid tests again. Yes, that's right, Covid appears to be on the rise once more. 1 Eris is thought to be less severe that previous variants but more contagious Credit: Getty But this time, a new variant has taken centre stage - and people are calling it Eris . This bug believed to be less severe than previous variants - but perhaps more contagious. And to make things worse, it can mask as a summer cold, meaning you could pass it on unknowingly. Latest data shows Eris, or EG.5, is the second most prevalent Covid strain in the UK, accounting for 14.6 per cent of cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Overall Covid infections are thought to have jumped from 606,656 on July 4 to 785,980 on July 27, according to the Zoe Health Study. This sudden rise in cases could be the result of the poor weather in July prompting people to gather indoors without natural ventilation to keep them safe, Prof David Strain, from the University of Exeter's Medical School, said. He told the BBC that for many people the effects of a new variant were like a "bad summer cold". Booster jabs were "offering protection against severe illness from this particular variant", he said. But it doesn't appear to actually stop you catching it. "But if you do catch it, it turns into this summer cold that we're all experiencing and it means our body can react really quickly," the Prof added. He said this is not a reason to panic but people should be aware that this is going around. "For the vast majority of us who are fully vaccinated, this is no more risky than a bad case of flu," he said. Millions have already had the bug and the majority of Brits also have protection due to the huge vaccine roll out . The current strain doing the rounds, , has been proven to be milder than others that came before it, such as Delta and Alpha . Here's how to tell the difference between and a cold : The eas){kind=link}
IT’S time to stock up on tissues, paracetamol and Covid tests again.
Yes, that’s right, Covid appears to be on the rise once more.
But this time, a new Omicron variant has taken centre stage – and people are calling it Eris.
This bug believed to be less severe than previous variants – but perhaps more contagious.
And to make things worse, it can mask as a summer cold, meaning you could pass it on unknowingly.