Covid-22: Is Covid ‘super variant’ real? Viral claim fact-checked

Covid in numbers: Latest cases and deaths update on August 26

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Covid variants have dominated the news for the last few months, with Delta now dominating most countries still wrapped in an epidemic. The offshoot of the base novel coronavirus is responsible for hundreds of thousands of cases and deaths a day. New spurious claims have predicted the coming of Covid-22, an alleged “super variant” soon to replace all the others.

Is Covid-22 real?

Covid-22 started as a viral sensation this week following a claim made by a Swedish scientist.

Several sites reported the claim by Sai Reddy, an Associate Professor of Systems and Synthetic Immunology at ETH Zurich, who warned a new variant could sprout next year.

He treated Covid-22 as a theoretical possibility and a warning for health officials.

Scientists named the present version of the disease Covid-19 as shorthand for “Coronavirus disease 2019”, caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Professor Reddy’s warning stipulates “Covid-22” is the next threat health officials need to keep an eye on.

He warned governments “have to prepare” for a variant that could form the “next phase of the pandemic”.

But there is no indication that another distinct version of Covid is on the horizon that would give them the “Covid-22” name, just more variants.

Each Covid variant, including Delta, has come from the same lineage (family) as SARS-CoV-2.

The claim may also have come from a misunderstanding, as it appears Professor Reddy has an unconventional method of referring to Covid variants.

Speaking to German publication Blick earlier this week, he called the Delta variant “Covid-21”.

Scientists haven’t referred to it like this, given the Delta variant emerged in 2020 from the same disease that causes Covid-19.

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In the end, this shows the professor is warning of new variants rather than a separate strain altogether.

But this doesn’t mean other variants aren’t already on the horizon.

Some scientists have started tracking previously trace-level Covid siblings that have started swelling in the background behind Delta.

They have identified the “AY” sub-variants that have started popping up in data recently.

The AY.1, AY.2, and AY.3 variants have recently emerged on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) “variant of concern” list.

The list contains variants that could soon cause trouble and has Delta amongst its alumni.

The AY.1 and AY.2 sublineages account for .1 percent and .8 percent of cases in the US.

AY.3, however, was dubbed “potentially worrying” and makes up more than nine percent.

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