New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, are regularly emerging in Australia.
The latest variant LP.8.1 is spreading, accounting for approximately one in five COVID-19 cases in New South Wales, according to SBS News.
It has become the third most dominant variant in the state of New South Wales, A2 reports. First detected in July 2024, LP.8.1 is a descendant of Omicron, specifically KP.1.1.3, which is a descendant of JN.1, a sub-variant that caused large waves of COVID infections around the world in late 2023 and early 2024.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared LP.8.1 a variant under monitoring in January, due to its significant increase worldwide.
The global health agency has assessed that the additional public health risk posed by LP.8.1 globally is low. The symptoms of LP.8.1 do not appear to be more severe than those of other circulating variants, suggesting that the variant is unlikely to influence the course of the pandemic.
(A2 Televizion)
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