By James Rodger

Copyright birminghammail

The NHS has issued a “most important” warning to UK households urging them to complete a key task – as a new Covid strain, Stratus, becomes dominant in the UK. The NHS spoke out via social media, warning UK households to protect themselves. In a post made to X, which was formerly known as Twitter until the Elon Musk takeover, the NHS said: “The most important thing people can do ahead of winter is get vaccinated. “We now offer protection against more viruses than ever before. You can now book your winter vaccines online or via the NHS App, if you’re eligible.” READ MORE UK households with white walls warned as epidemic starts to sweep England The current COVID surge is being driven by the mutated XFG variant, aka Stratus, which is spreading rapidly worldwide. The strain was first detected in the U.S. in March, but it took several months for the strain to surpass the NB.1.8.1 or Nimbus variant. In June, the World Health Organization had classified XFG as a “variant under monitoring” due to its rapid global spread. “(XFG) is part of the very large omicron family of variants,” Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told Today. Dr. Albert Ko, professor of public health, epidemiology and medicine at Yale School of Public Health, said: “NB.1.18.1 (Nimbus) and XFG (Stratus) appear to be more transmissible compared to other variants.” “All these newer omicron variants are highly contagious, but apparently not as severe,” says Schaffner. Currently, the symptoms of Stratus appear to be very similar to other recent omicron variants. There’s no evidence that XFG causes distinct symptoms, says Schaffner. “We’re seeing a substantial upswing in cases consistent with the anticipated late summer increase that we have seen over the last four years,” Schaffner says. Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, warns that the new strain could bring with it an “unpleasant bug”.