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ARCHIVED - New Covid variant arrives in Spain: here are the symptoms to look out for
The BQ.1 Omicron variant is tipped to become the dominant Covid strain in Spain this winter
More than two years have passed since the coronavirus pandemic began, but the WHO has warned this week that we’re certainly not out of the woods yet. This is partly because the disease keeps mutating, each new strain becoming a little quicker to spread and slightly more immune to the existing vaccinations.
One of the latest to hit the headlines is known as BQ.1, a subvariant of Omicron, and although no cases have been diagnosed in people yet, this is not to say that isn’t already spreading across Spain and causing the recent upsurge in infections.
So far, it’s only been detected in wastewater in Catalonia, but health experts point out that many people with no symptoms, or only mild illnesses, aren’t bothering to get tested anymore, so the true reach of this worrisome strain is hard to pin down.
If BQ.1 variant does begin to spread, the Ministry of Health predicts that it could become the dominant strain in Spain this winter, as is already happening in the US. On the plus side, although the new variant seems largely immune to vaccines and so is more transmissible, it’s not proving to be any more serious.
As for the symptoms, BQ.1 doesn’t differ too greatly from the other Covid strains that have come before it, but health experts urge anyone suffering from the following for more than a day or two to get themselves tested:
- General discomfort
- Severe headache
- Throat pain
- Muscle pain
- Runny nose and sneezing
- Loss of appetite
- Fever
- Diarrhoea
- Heart rhythm disturbance
- Difficulty breathing
According to the United Kingdom Public Health Agency (UKHSA), the new variants (BQ.1 and BQ.1.1) are 29% more transmissible that the current BA.5, which has been the predominant one so far. Given this, experts believe that Q.1 could drive a wave of infections, especially in Europe and North America, before the end of this year.
Image: Pixabay
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