A new variant of Covid-19 called AY.4.2 - more commonly known as Delta Plus - has been recorded in the UK.
Yesterday, Britain reported just under 50,000 new cases of Covid-19.
Their officials have said it's too early to confirm whether this strain, first identified in India, is more dangerous than the first variant, Alpha, which was superseded by the much more infectious Delta.
This Delta Plus strain now accounts for 6% of cases in the UK, but should people in Ireland be worried about this mutation?
Speaking on Today With Claire Byrne, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said there's a "small number" of AY.4.2 cases in Ireland and that it's "not something about which we are raising alarm or concern at this point in time".
But what are the differences between the two Delta strains of Covid-19?
Symptoms
Symptoms-wise, the Delta Plus variant shares a lot of similarities with its predecessor, a including sore throat, a runny nose, and headaches.
Experts in India have reported skin rash, abdominal pain and diarrhoea may also be symptoms of this new Covid-19 variant.
Transmissibility
Compared to when Alpha and Delta first emerged, it's nowhere near as large a jump in transmissibility compared to when Alpha and Delta emerged.
Those two variants represented a 50% and 60% increase in infection over the original strain of the virus. According to Prof Francois Balloux, director of University College London's Genetics Institute: "It is likely to be up to 10% more transmissible."
Vaccine efficacy
With every new mutation that emerges, it puts a strain on the efficacy of the available vaccines.
For the original Delta variant, both Pfizer and AstraZeneca are highly effective at keeping people out of hospital and stopping serious illness from Covid-19.
The Pfizer vaccine has a 90% success rate at keeping people with Covid-19 out of the hospital.
AstraZeneca has a 92% success rate of keeping people out of hospital two weeks after the second dose.
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