Experts are closely watching a new Covid variant that's already been detected in two countries, warning it could be the 'real deal'
However, experts have claimed a new Covid variant could be circulating with one epidemiologist issuing a stark warning that it could be the 'real deal'.
One expert claimed that she had seen WhatsApp group chats 'buzzing' with concern over the possible spread of the variant - and warned that people should consider wearing masks again. The new strain of the virus is thought to display an unusual ability to mutate - potentially making it able to circulate more efficiently. Infectious disease specialist Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, told the MailOnline on Wednesday that BA.6 variant had "probably" started spreading in the UK already. He added: "If it isn't now, then it probably very soon will be.
Unique mutations are sometimes found in people with severe Covid infections or chronic illnesses - but Shay Fleishon, a former advisor to the Central Virology Laboratory at Sheba Medical Centre, told the Jerusalem Post that this was not true of the case recorded in Israel. He later wrote on Twitter: "S**t just got real. Two more seq of the variant I alerted about yesterday popped in Denmark.