Health

New Covid Variant Sweeps Through England and It’s Coming with a Weird New Symptom

Published on July 8, 2025

There’s a new Covid-19 variant doing the rounds in the UK and it’s already taken the top spot as the dominant strain in England, according to official figures. This one’s been named ‘Stratus’ and experts are keeping a close eye on it as it spreads much faster than previous versions of the virus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has flagged it as a “variant under monitoring” – a sort of early warning category – after it was first spotted back in January. By the end of June, it was spreading fast enough to raise eyebrows among global health bodies, reported the Manchester Evening News.

Stratus seems to be getting around quite a bit, and not just because it’s contagious. One of the key concerns is that it might be able to sneak past the immunity we’ve built up from jabs or earlier infections. Still, the WHO says that even with that potential trick up its sleeve, it doesn’t think this new variant poses a big public health risk at the global level for now.

Here in England, it’s not just one version of Stratus. There are two strains doing the rounds: XFG, the original, and XFG.3, a slightly tweaked version. Together, they’ve gone from making up just 10 per cent of cases in May to a whopping 40 per cent now, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). The numbers between May 26 and June 8 show 28.9 per cent of cases were XFG.3, and another 11.4 per cent were plain old XFG.

Dr Alex Allen from UKHSA said it’s perfectly normal for viruses to evolve and that their teams are keeping a close watch on how things develop, both here and abroad. “Based on the available information so far, there is no evidence to suggest that the XFG and XFG.3 variants cause more severe disease than previous variants,” he explained, adding that the vaccines we already have should still do the job.

But there’s something else that’s caught people’s attention with Stratus – and it’s a bit strange. Some doctors, particularly in India where the variant has also been spreading fast, have pointed out that it often gives people a hoarse voice. Not your typical Covid symptom, but it’s being seen a lot. Alongside that, patients are also reporting dry coughs, sore throats, fever, muscle aches, fatigue and all the usual suspects.

The WHO isn’t sounding the alarm just yet, saying there’s no solid evidence to suggest Stratus is making people any sicker than older variants. While some countries in South-east Asia – where XFG is most common – have seen more cases and hospital admissions lately, it doesn’t seem like this strain is causing more severe illness overall.

And just when you thought things couldn’t get weirder, this isn’t the only new variant in the spotlight. The WHO is also watching another one called Nimbus, also known as NB.1.8.1. That one made headlines thanks to a nasty symptom nicknamed “razor blade sensation” – a sharp pain when swallowing.

In the meantime, the NHS is reminding people of the usual Covid symptoms to look out for, including high temperature, coughing, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, fatigue, sore throat, headaches, and stomach issues like nausea or diarrhoea.

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