Another Covid variant codenamed Eris has started spreading in Britain, giving rise to fears of a fresh coronavirus wave.

Senior officials of UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have raised the alarm about Eris, saying it already makes up one in seven new cases after reaching the UK towards the end of May, according to a report in Britain’s Daily Mail.

Hospitalisation rates are also starting to shoot up, sparking concern that the nation may be on the brink of being hit by a fresh wave, the report said.

However, experts today claimed it shows no sign of being more dangerous than the other strains circulating, including its ancestor Omicron.

Officials also say they are ‘closely’ monitoring the spread of the virus.

Experts have speculated that the ‘Barbenheimer effect’ – referring to the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer movies– might have contributed to the rise in infections as huge crowds gathered to see the films, as well as the recent bad weather and declining immunity.

UKHSA analysts estimate Covid positivity rates increased to 5.4 per cent with 17 outbreaks confirmed, in the previous week, which itself saw a rise of 3.7 per cent. Leading experts fear the outbreak will continue to pick up pace in the coming weeks as part of the virus’s natural cycle, the Daily Mail report added.