A new variant of Covid-19 has caused an outbreak at a care home and is now likely to be widespread in the UK, public health officials have said.
The BA.2.86 variant has been detected dozens of times in England, including at a Norfolk care home, the UK Health Security Agency said in a briefing as it urged people to come forward for vaccinations when called.
The variant, nicknamed Pirola, has been picked up 34 times, with five of those cases needing hospital treatment.
Twenty-eight of those cases were at a Norfolk care home, where residents were asked to take PCR tests after an unusually high number became unwell.
The agency said: “Based on the information from this incident, it is too early to draw any