An elderly man reportedly died with the Arcturus variant in Thailand, according to the country’s director-general of the medical sciences department, Dr Supakit Sirilak.
He confirmed 27 new cases of XBB.1.16 – which has been dubbed ‘Arcturus’ – were detected in the Southeast Asian nation as of April 17, and one of those was fatal, reports Thai PBS.
There have also been some suggestions it could be the most contagious variant of coronavirus yet, sparking fears it could eventually cause another wave in the UK.