Covid-19: New XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ Variant Described As Extremely Contagious

• There is a new Covid-19 variant in the system unofficially named the 'Kraken' variant
• The WHO officially calls the extremely contagious variant 'XBB.1.5' and is said to be a subvariant of the Omicron variant
• Although it is the variant causing much of the new Coronavirus cases, health experts believe existing vaccines could help fight it

Scientists are predicting that a rise in new Covid-19 infections around the world is imminent because of ‘Kraken’, the name of a new variant of the virus.

Officially called XBB.1.5, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it is an Omicron subvariant that is fast spreading in US, UK, India, and multiple European countries.

A public health expert William Nii Ayitey Menson has told YEN.com.gh that the new variant has rapidly replaced other circulating variants, and has accounted for at least 30% of cases in the US as of January 7, 2023.

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Menson, who is also a fellow of think tank Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), has said Kraken’s fast-spreading symptoms are not different from those caused by other Covid-19 variants.

“We do not yet know if infection with Kraken is more severe than that caused by other variants. Data is still being collected to ascertain this. The main concern is the transmissibility,” the fellow of CSJ’s Health and Equity pillar said.

Will Vaccines Protect Against the New Kraken Variant?

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said recently that Covid-19 and its associated problems will not go away.

“The world cannot close its eyes and hope this virus will go away. It won’t,” he said on January 11, 2023 during a media briefing.

But scientists say even as vaccines do not prevent people from being infected multiple times, they help to prevent serious illness.

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CSJ’s Menson agrees, and says for the new ‘Kraken’ variant, vaccination still provides protection, even though some scientists believe it is more immune-invasive than other variants.

“To protect oneself against the ‘Kraken’ variant, we would need to follow the same public health advise as for other variants,” he told YEN.com.gh.

According to the Ghana Health Service (GHS) there are 12 active cases of Coronavirus in Ghana, with a total of 21,400,939 vaccine doses administered.

Nurse-For-Cash Agreement Between Ghana And United Kingdom Announced

Meanwhile in a separate story, YEN.com.gh reported that health minister Kweku Agyeman-Manu announced plans by Ghana to send registered nurses to the United Kingdom for cash.

The minister told Parliament on December 5, 2022, that Ghana could make £1,000 for each nurse sent to the UK.

He disclosed that there are ongoing bilateral talks between Ghana and UK to introduce a similar deal already in existence between Ghana and Barbados.

Source: YEN.com.gh