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The Government has issued a fresh statement on the severity of a new Covid variant circulating in the UK, as concerns grow over 'flu-demic' as hospitalisations rise heading into winter.

It comes after Liberal Democrat MP Joshua Reynolds asked ministers whether eligibility for free NHS Covid vaccinations would be reviewed in light of the emerging strain, known as XFG or 'Stratus' .

The new strain was declared a 'variant under monitoring' by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on June 25 after it was first reported in January this year. According to the WHO, such variants need prioritised attention due to characteristics that may pose an additional threat compared to other strains of the virus.

The 'Stratus' variant was behind a spike in Covid cases in October thi

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