06/10/2026
Con razón me enferme 🤧🤒
Cases of Covid in Ireland are surging with hundreds of people being hospitalised, with one new key symptom.🤧
The Omicron strain XFG, also known as Stratus, has been dubbed "American Covid" after spreading rapidly in the USA.📈
It is now dominant in many countries around the world. In Ireland, where XFG now accounts for 55% of all tested cases, there were 479 cases of Covid recorded by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre in the most recent week which is up from 319 the week before and 277 the week before that.
Routine testing is no longer carried out, so the recorded figures are the tip of the iceberg.
There were also 187 hospitalisations and one death in the most recent week at the end of September.😔💔
There is one key symptom of the new variant. Pharmacist Daniel Cheung said: "The key symptoms and most noticeable symptoms of the Stratus variant include hoarseness, scratchy/raspy voice, which is considered a unique symptom distinguishing it from other Covid strains."
He said other symptoms include a dry cough, sore throat, fever, fatigue, muscle aches and a loss of sense of taste and smell.🤧
