Just when we thought it was safe to resume life as we knew it, COVID, the virus, has returned with a more virulent strain- ‘The Kraken’.

Over the Christmas period, people the world over spoke of succumbing to terrible flu-like symptoms which has laid them out for days.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named this new strain XBB.1.5 and so far it has been identified in 30 countries across the world.

Nicknamed ‘The Kraken’, after the mythological sea monster, this strain is said to be more damaging than the Omicron variant.

UK CONTEMPLATING RETURN TO MANDATORY MASK WEARING

Omicron forced the world back into seclusion around this time last year- here we are back at it again.

Many governments have made it clear that it would be too calamitous to their economies to go back into lockdown again and that people will just have to live with this virus.

The UK is contemplating returning to mandatory mask wearing as COVID strikes again.

With increased transmissibility, many people will be encouraged to get new booster shots. However, there is COVID fatigue out there with some folk refusing to put themselves through taking more jabs.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s lead epidemiologist for its COVID team, said: “The reason for this new strain are the mutations that are within this subvariant of Omicron allowing this virus to adhere to the cell and replicate easily.

“Our concern is how transmissible it is… and the more this virus circulates, the more opportunities it will have to change.”

Professor Lawrence Young of Warwick University, commenting on the uptick in cases in the United States, added: “The XBB.1.5 variant is highly infectious and is driving increased hospital admissions in New York, particularly among the elderly.

“Waning immunity, more indoor mixing because of the cold weather and lack of other mitigations such as wearing facemasks, are also contributing to this surge of infections in the US.”

The XBB.1.5 subvariant is a merger of two other variants. It is behind at least 41 per cent of new cases according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“What’s particularly special about this virus is the mutations that it’s acquired. So all viruses mutate and gather mutations as they replicate in our cells, that’s normal because viruses replicate really quickly.These mutations will accumulate.

“And what you tend to see over time is that the sort of mutations which benefit the virus will start to become dominant. And what this XBB.1.5 or Kraken has is the ability to try and avoid our antibodies.

“So that means that any immunity that we have from vaccines and plus or minus previous infection may not be as effective. So it has an immune evasion mechanism,” said Professor at the Lydia Becker Institute  of Immunology and Inflammation, University of Manchester, Sheena Cruickshank