The new strain of COVID-19 XEC has not yet been detected in Uzbekistan and does not pose a serious threat to public health, the first deputy chairman of the Committee for Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health Nurmat Atabekov said.

The XEC strain from the "omicron" family, a combination of KS.1.1 and KP.3.3 variants, was first recorded in Germany on June 15. To date, it has been identified in 27 countries. Today, 10 versions of the "omicron" strain have been identified in the world. In the upcoming winter season, the new version may become dominant, the specialist noted.

"The disease passes mildly and without complications, to be more precise, with symptoms of an acute respiratory viral infection and influenza. Only it has several distinctive features. These include mild shortness of breath, prolonged cough, partial loss of taste and smell, weakness," said a representative of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Committee.

Vaccines used against COVID-19 are effective against all detected strains, including the XEC mutation, and there is no need to develop new vaccines, Nurmat Atabekov emphasized.

He added that in world medical practice, complete recovery of patients with the XEC strain is observed within one to two weeks. The current treatment protocols and procedures give the expected effect.

“Currently, there are no cases of infection with the XEC strain in Uzbekistan,” he emphasized.

The country has sufficient reserves of coronavirus vaccines, so the threat of a large-scale epidemic or pandemic is unlikely. “The collective immunity that our population has significantly reduces the risk of the pathogen entering the country and spreading very widely,” the first deputy head of the committee assured.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, about 40 thousand of its mutations have been registered in the world, but only about 20 of them have caused the disease. Therefore, the emergence of mutations should not cause panic, Nurmat Atabekov noted.

“The time has come to view coronavirus infection not as a dangerous pathology leading to serious losses, but as a seasonal disease, similar to acute respiratory viral infections and influenza,” he concluded.