reports, about 90,000, most of those are omicron, every single day, so 1000 is still quite small. scientists, what they look for, is it more severe? and it spread more quickly? does it evade vaccines? so far, no data to say that it is more severe than omicron. the early data is showing that it s spreading more quickly than the original version. they looked at contact tracing data and found it was spreading more quickly within households. while growth advantage can fluctuate in the early data, so that s why they are saying it is important to be cautious because this is really early data. i think it has a substantial growth advantage. that s - reads substantial growth advantage. that spreads more substantial growth advantage. that spreads more quickly. it substantial growth advantage. that spreads more quickly. it spreads i spreads more quickly. it spreads more quickly. spreads more quickly. it spreads more quickly, basically. - spreads more quickly. it spreads more quickly, basica
our health editor hugh pym is here. how worried are the authorities? welcome of the original omicron strain, known as ba one, is still dominant but in recent weeks a new one which has been named as ba two has been identified and officials say based on 1000 cases in england so far there is a faster growth rate and are currently substantial growth advantage, although from very low level of cases in its early days. they say there is higher transmission in households, a little bit, anyway, so you are more likely to pass it on to someone under the same roof. but there is no evidence that vaccines are less effective against it and no evidence that it causes more severe illness in terms of getting people into hospital, but it will be watched very closely. in denmark more than 50% of cases involve this strand. officials of the uk are saying given the relatively high overall number of cases people should continue to act cautiously. one virus expert has
that s why they re saying it s important to be cautious, because this is really early data, they do think it has a substantial growth advantage. it spreads more quickly. this is still early days and things may change as they learn more about it. the encouraging thing is the vaccines are still working, so after two or three go it says, it s still providing protection against symptomatic disease for both variants. clearly, much more research is needed, but they say that the uk is in quite good position because of the amount of genome sequencing carried out here and they can react and respond quite quickly. they say across the board infections are at a high rate and people should still be cautious as restrictions are eased, consider still wearing masks to get your vaccinations and to carry on testing regularly. let s ta ke let s take a look at the weather. here is thomas.
0fficials officials say some variants appear to spread more easily. katharine da costa has more. it s a variant under investigation, which is why they re trying to learn more about it. so far, about 1000 cases have been confirmed in england. that s actually really small. if you think about the daily infections that we report, about 90,000, most 0micron every single day, so 1000 is about, single day, so 1000 is quite small, they look for is a more severe, can it spread more quickly, can it evade the vaccines? so far, no data to say that it s more severe than 0micron. the early data is showing that it s spreading more quickly than the original version. they looked at contact tracing data and found that it was spreading a little bit more quickly within households. while growth advantage can fluctuate in the early data,
A new COVID mutant XE has been found in the UK, the World Health Organisation has said in its latest report and noted that it may be more transmissible than t