Scientists are investigating a newly detected strain of Covid-19, which is being being described as being more infectious than the Delta variant of the virus.
The name of the new variant is called AY.4.2, and officials have subsequently classified it is a "variant under investigation".
People who become infected with the new Covid-19 strain are less likely to display symptoms in comparison to other variants such as Delta, scientists have said.
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Reportedly, as little as a third of people with AY.4.2 have symptoms synonymous with Covid-19 - such as a persistent cough, a fever, or a loss in smell and taste.
Meanwhile, as reported by the Manchester Evening News, as many as 46% of all patients with the Delta variant display one or more of these symptoms.
The AY variants of the virus are considered a sub-lineage of the Delta variant with 75 AY lineages identified so far.
The most prevalent is AY.4, a new strain which the scientists say is more likely to result in asymptomatic infection.
In fact, 63 per cent of new cases in October were caused by AY.4.
Professor of statistical epidemiology at Imperial College London Christl Donnelly said: “It is absolutely the case that if people are waiting for symptoms to do a test and to therefore identify that they are infected, and therefore cut back their contacts, being asymptomatic may facilitate transmission for example.
“It is asymptomatic transmission that really can make the difference between what’s relatively easily containable and what needs vaccination.”
