Saudi advises Umrah pilgrims to wear masks as new Covid variant spreads

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has advised Umrah pilgrims to wear face masks while visiting the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, August 14, the authorities said, “Wearing a mask in the two holy mosques, in Makkah and Madinah and their surrounding areas, protects you and others from disease infection.”

The advisory comes amid global reports of a new variant of the deadly COVID-19 spreading worldwide. EG.5, also known as Eris, is a sublineage of the omicron variant and has been detected in 51 countries, including the United States, China, South Korea and Japan, according to a preliminary risk assessment.

On August 9 the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that it is tracking a new strain of COVID-19 as new global cases reached nearly 1.5 million from July 10 to Sunday, August 6, an 80 percent increase compared to the previous 28 days.

Formerly a variant under monitoring, WHO has now designated this a variant of interest.

There has been a steady increase in this variant’s prevalence. As of 7 August 2023, over 7000 sequences have been shared from 51 countries.

The WHO has designated it a “variant of interest,” meaning it will be monitored for mutations that could make it more severe.

Based on current evidence, the organization says it presents a low public health risk at a global level, in line with other variants currently in circulation. In May, the WHO more broadly said Covid-19 was now “an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

Symptoms

Symptoms for Eris are reported to be the same as past variants, including a fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, runny nose, and change in taste and smell.

“While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” the WHO said in a risk evaluation published Wednesday.

It added that these properties may lead the variant to become dominant in some countries, or indeed globally.

The variant’s official name is EG.5, while “Eris” is a random nickname given online that subsequently popularized the EG.5.1 subvariant.

Based on sequencing information submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) as of Aug. 7, the largest portion of EG.5 cases were identified in China, followed by the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Canada.

It was also identified in Australia, Singapore, the U.K., France, Portugal and Spain.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EG.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S., accounting for 17.3% of cases as of the week ended Aug. 5. – Independent Press