The ‘kraken’ COVID variant XBB.1.5 is rising quickly in the US

Here’s what it could mean for the UK.

Dr Grace Roberts (Molecular and Cellular Biology) authors a piece in The Conversation on how, due to the dominance of the omicron variant of Covid-19, the past several months have seen the emergence of at least 650 sub-variants of omicron.

The latest variant to worry health professionals and virologists alike is XBB.1.5, nicknamed “kraken” by a group of scientists that has been naming new variants after mythological creatures to make the virus’ evolution more accessible to the public.

Image: Coronavirus and the omicron variant by studio v-zwoelf on Adode Stock Free