60% jump in hospital Covid cases

A NEW Covid variant known as XFG is thought to have fuelled a 60% rise in hospital stays for patients with the virus.

- By Hanna Geissler Health Editor

There is no evidence that the strain leads to more serious disease, but experts said mutations in the virus's spike protein may give it a slight advantage when evading immunity generated by previous infection or vaccination.

UK Health Security Agency data shows the hospitalisation rate for Covid rose to 2.73 per 100,000 last week, up from 1.71 per 100,000 at the end of August.