Covid variant Eris no significant threat to health, say experts

While more transmissible than the Omicron variant, Eris has not been causing more severe disease in those infected.

The latest covid-19 variant does not pose a serious threat to most people and our health system will be able to cope, the country's leading virology experts have said, as they encouraged people to continue socialising.

A new covid variant, known as EG.5 and nicknamed Eris, has been identified in Ireland and globally. 

While more transmissible than the Omicron variant, experts point out that Eris has not been causing more severe disease in those infected.

Professor Sam McConkey, deputy dean at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, said while the World Health Organization  says they are aware of Eris, "they are saying that this isn’t a variant of concern”. 

In terms of the risk in Ireland, Prof McConkey says: “Nearly everyone in Ireland now has been vaccinated, and many of us have had some variant of Sars-CoV-2 already so we are inoculated by natural infection and by the vaccine. So we are quite robust in our ability to deal with this.” 

As a consequence, he said Eris is not leading to serious illnesses such as viral pneumonia which accompanied previous variants.

“We really need to reassure people that public restrictions around covid are now over,” he said.

“There is still unfortunately a percentage of the population who are socially scarred and limited in their social network because of the whole three years of pandemic we’ve all had. To me that is very sad, so I would like to say to people get out and do what you want to do.” 

University College Cork professor of immunology Liam Fanning said: “From a scientific perspective, we are in a very good position from having a population that is largely infected, and we have a set of vaccines now.” 

He said existing vaccines continue to offer protection against the new variant.

“Our response to the infection still results in relatively mild disease for most in the population,” he said.

He added: “So yes there will be people in hospital, there will be some beds occupied within ICU but nothing too significant so our functioning health service will be able to cope.” 

Prof Fanning noted the timing may encourage people to get flu and covid-19 vaccines next month when the HSE opens this for older people and groups vulnerable to the virus.

There is no need for people to change their plans, there is no certainly no need for any return of any of the mask-wearing or public health measures that we had during the Alpha or Delta waves.

Earlier this week the World Health Organization said they have been tracking the EG.5 variant, but marked it as a ‘variant of interest’ rather than the more serious ‘variant of concern’.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said this winter people will benefit from having “a much more robust immunity both from natural infection and from vaccination”.

However he told RTÉ: “If it [covid-19] mutates into a variant that's just easier to catch, but not more serious, then we'll see a surge in community transmission, and if enough people catch it in the community, we’ll see some vulnerable people end up in hospital.” 

In the two weeks to August 7 some four people died with covid-19, bringing the pandemic death-toll to 9,128 in Ireland. 

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also said restrictions are not being considered.