Luke O'Neill reveals how to tell if you have new Covid-19 variant before Christmas

A new variant of Covid-19 has been announced by The World Health Organisation (WHO) who has classified the JN.1 strain as a "variant of interest".

WHO have already noted that other diseases - such as RSV, influenza and childhood pneumonia are already on the rise.

Trinity College Dublin Immunologist Luke O'Neill told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk that the variant seems to have similar symptoms to previous ones.

"It doesn't seem any more mischievous in terms of making people really sick but it spreads more they think," he said.

"There's some evidence that it's a bit more contagious. There's a good bet now if you've got a cold it could be this variant, possibly.

"It's becoming more and more common, the numbers are going up the whole time. The symptoms aren't that different to the previous version."

Prof O'Neill said an announcement in May that COVID-19 was no longer a global health emergency did not mark the end of its presence.