A new COVID variant, XEC, has arrived just before fall. The new variant has sprouted from the Omicron variant that developed in late 2021. Though XEC is new, Prof Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, told the BBC that he would be surprised if it became the dominant variant throughout winter.

The coronaviruses have continued to create new strains, the latest being XEC, which can evade the immune system. Here’s everything you need to know.

Talk of the new Covid variant – known as XEC – is currently rife, with reports emerging that the variant, first detected in Germany in June, is spreading across the United States and the rest of Europe.

What we know so far about the new COVID strain. XEC is a recombinant variant, formed when a person is infected with two different COVID variants simultaneously. It is