Canada has detected its first case of coronavirus infection from the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant of Omicron in a person in British Columbia who had not travelled outside the Pacific province, health officials said on Tuesday.

Canada detects first case of highly mutated coronavirus variant BA.2.86

A new strain of coronavirus has been labelled as a 'variant of interest' by the World Health Organisation, although the officials have predicted a low public health risk.

WHO designates new Covid strain ‘Eris’ as 'variant of interest' amid global surge in cases

The infectious Coronavirus disease also known as COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Over time, like all other viruses, SARS-CoV-2 also changes itself. The majority of changes have little to no effect on the characteristics of the virus, but some changes might impact how easily the virus spreads, the severity, or the effectiveness of vaccines.

EXPLAINED: What is BF.7, the new variant behind China's COVID wave, are available vaccines effective?

The variant of coronavirus that has wreaked havoc in India has been found in dozens of other countries all around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday.

Covid variant first detected in India found in 44 other countries: WHO