The discovery of a new Covid strain suspected of being more transmissible and vaccine-resistant has prompted the reintroduction of some face covering and travel rules in England.
The Omicron variant has been declared a ‘variant of concern’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as ‘preliminary evidence suggests there may be an increased risk of reinfection’.
This is the same category as the Delta variant which fuelled last winter’s wave of Covid cases.
But ministers say the UK is ‘nowhere near’ bringing back social distancing and scientists have played down the danger to the public as patients are so far presenting with relatively mild symptoms.
Little is yet known about the Omicron variant – of which there were three confirmed cases in the UK as of Sunday – except that it has mutated considerably from the original coronavirus identified in Wuhan.
The WHO has also confirmed PCR tests are just as effective at detecting Omicron as previous variants.
However, researchers are still confirming the effectiveness of other tests.
Sources at the UK Health Security Agency say they have found no evidence that lateral flow tests – the most common rapid test available – will not detect the variant.
Scientists at Goethe University’s Institute of Medical Virology, in Germany, have suggested that lateral flow tests produced by three major companies successfully detected Omicron in samples.
They include ACON’s Flowflex test, which is the main provider used for nose-only tests supplied by NHS Test and Trace.
Professor Christina Pagel, director of University College London’s Clinical Operational Research Unit, hailed the preliminary findings as ‘good news’.
Professor Rupert Beale of the Francis Crick Institute’s Cell Biology of Infection Lab warned that some types of lateral flow test could be less effective, although the ‘best guess is most of them will be’.
Lateral flow tests will not tell you whether you have the new variant rather than another Covid strain, as only PCR tests can be processed for DNA sequencing.
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