The World Health Organization has upgraded COVID-19 variant EG.5 to a variant of interest, or VOI, from a variant under monitoring, or VUM, as it continues to become more prevalent around the world. The variant, which has been nicknamed ‘Eris’ by some media to stick with the Greek alphabet designations used for other variants, has been found in 51 countries, with most sequences, or 30.6%, stemming from China, said WHO.
The variant, which has been nicknamed ‘Eris’ by some media to stick with the Greek alphabet designations used for other variants, has been found in 51 countries, with most sequences, or 30.6%, stemming from China, said WHO. Other countries that have submitted at least 100 sequences to a central database include the U.S., , the Republic of Korea , Japan , Canada , Australia , Singapore , the United Kingdom , France , Portugal , and Spain , the WHO said in a statement.