WHO classifies 'Eris' Covid strain as 'variant of interest'

The EG.5 strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "variant of interest," although it is not considered to pose a greater risk to public health than other strains. The variant was originally identified on February 17 and was categorized as a variant under monitoring in July. EG.5 is a descendant of the Omicron subvariant and bears an additional mutation in the spike protein.