Will the Minister make a statement on the number of cases of the Arcturus COVID variant and the precautions being taken by the Welsh Government?
‘Arcturus’ is the unofficial name given to the XBB.1.16 variant. To date, 13 cases have been detected in Wales. In both wastewater and clinical cases, the proportion of XBB.1.16 and other identified subvariants is less than 2% of cases.
The available evidence does not suggest that XBB.1.16 has additional public health risks relative to other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages. PHW and Welsh Government officials continue to attend UK Horizon Scanning meetings that track XBB.1.16 and other emerging variants and are following the growth of XBB.1.16 within the UK closely. This includes monitoring the wider pressures on the health care system for any early signs of increased impacts.