Two new Covid variants have shown ‘rapid growth’ ahead of winter

The country appeared to be at the tail end of its sixth wave of the virus in recent days, but all that could change as two new variants of the virus have now been identified. In its latest technical briefing, the UKHSA (United Kingdom Health Security Agency) has announced two new variants of COVID-19, BQ.1 and XBB. The question now, do these variants pose a threat to a Covid free Christmas?In a statement the UKHSA said the new variants had been ‘given UKHSA variant designations to facilitate continued studies’.This means funding has been confirmed for the agency to find out more about the viruses. It described both BQ.1 and XBB and the extent of their spread so far: ‘BQ.1 (V-22OCT-01) is a BA.5 sub-lineage which has been designated on the basis of rapid growth. So far, there have been 717 V-22OCT-01 sequences uploaded from the UK to the international GISAID database.”XBB (V-22OCT-02) is a recombinant lineage derived from two previous Omicron sublineages. Currently there are 18 UK samples in GISAID, out of a global total of 1,086. 639 samples have been uploaded from Singapore, and it is thought that XBB may be a factor in the recent spike in cases there.’READ MORE: Three popular drinks linked to the formation of varicose veins Two new variants of Covid have been detected (Image: Getty Images)