Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — As of now, the new COVID-19 strain known as XEC has not been detected in Uzbekistan and does not pose a serious threat to public health, Nurmat Atabekov, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Sanitary-Epidemiological Wellbeing and Public Health, stated this.

Recently, there has been widespread information in international and local media, as well as on social networks, about the new COVID-19 strain XEC, which is said to potentially become dominant in the coming months. Atabekov explained that this strain emerged from a combination of two "omicron" variants — KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 — and was first identified on June 15 in Germany. It is currently registered in 27 countries.

Atabekov noted that there are currently 10 different versions of the "omicron" strain circulating worldwide. Experts predict that the XEC strain might become the most prevalent during the upcoming winter season. However, the disease caused by this strain tends to be mild, with symptoms similar to those of ARVI and flu, such as mild breathing difficulties, prolonged cough, partial loss of taste and smell, weakness, and others.

Existing COVID-19 vaccines remain effective against all registered strains, including XEC. Therefore, there is no need to develop new vaccines, emphasized Atabekov.

Additionally, international medical practice shows that patients with the XEC strain generally recover fully within one to two weeks. Current treatment protocols and methods yield expected results.

Atabekov added that the XEC strain has not been registered in Uzbekistan. The country has sufficient stocks of COVID-19 vaccines, and the likelihood of a large-scale epidemic or pandemic is very low due to the high level of collective immunity.

Thus, COVID-19 is currently not considered a serious threat and should be viewed as a seasonal illness similar to ARVI and flu.