00:00Hi, I'm Sarah McCann, Vertical Specialist Writer here for National World Publications
00:06and today we are going to be talking about the new COVID variant. Fears have been growing
00:12as there has been an increased rate of COVID infections happening this summer due to a
00:17collective group of COVID variants named FLIRT. In June, there was a small rise of COVID infections
00:26relating to hospital admissions, rising from 2.67% per 100,000 people to 3.31% per 100,000 people.
00:35Whilst this increase seems quite small, we don't really know how many people have COVID
00:40as we no longer collect data. This means that many cases of COVID may not be being reported.
00:50The new group of COVID variants are collectively known as FLIRT. Despite the name,
00:55they have been driving cases recently with the three most common variants including JN1, KP2 and KP3.
01:05UK HSA have said that there is no change to public policy despite the increase in cases
01:12and that COVID symptoms remain the same despite the different variants. The symptoms for COVID
01:19are still a fever or temperature, a new continuous cough, loss or change to your taste and smell,
01:28sore throat, blocked running nose, fatigue, aching body and also gastrointestinal symptoms including
01:36nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. The days of COVID lockdowns are over and you do not have
01:44any legal restrictions to self-isolate if you test positive for COVID. However, governments do
01:50advise that if you test positive it's important that you avoid people for five days just to prevent
01:57passing on COVID to someone else within your community. You can still buy COVID lateral
02:03flow tests in pharmacies, chemists or supermarkets. The summer COVID vaccination scheme was available
02:09to anyone over the age of 75 with a weakened immune system or adults who lived in care homes.
02:14This scheme ended on June 30th. To learn more to find out about signs and symptoms
02:19and future vaccination schemes for COVID be sure to check out nhs.co.uk
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