The United Kingdom Health Security Agency, UKHSA, on Friday confirmed the first case of COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 in the country.
In a statement on its website, the Agency disclosed that the new COVID-19 variant was detected in an individual with no recent travel history.
The Deputy Director of UKHSA, Dr Meera Chand said “We are aware of a confirmed case in the UK. We will provide further information in due course after undertaking detailed assessment.
The World Health Organisation, WHO and the US health authorities on Thursday said they were closely monitoring a new variant of Covid-19.
Although, the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown as WHO designated the virus as a ‘variant under monitoring’ following the large number of mutations it carries.
The BA.2.86 variant has also been identified in Denmark, Israel and the USA.
