CANBERRA: Australia has reported the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, LB.1, with health experts expressing concerns over its potential for faster transmission compared to previous variants, local media outlets reported on Saturday.
According to a spokesperson from the country’s health department, confirmed cases of the LB.1 variant have been identified in Australia, as reported by SBS News.
Health experts have indicated that LB.1 appears to exhibit a higher transmissibility rate compared to some earlier variants of concern.
“Although LB.1 is almost certainly more transmissible than KP.2, it doesn’t appear to be outperforming KP.3 and its descendants,” Professor Adrian Esterman, chair of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of South Australia, was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
Paul Griffin, an infectious disease physician and clinical microbiologist at the University of Queensland, noted that while Australia may be seeing a plateau in Covid-19 cases during the current winter season, the situation remains dynamic.
“We have observed a significant wave of Covid activity that seems to be leveling off, but there is still a considerable amount of virus circulating at present,” Griffin commented.
