Scientists warn of different Covid variants combining and sharing traits as infections rise

Recombination events are rare but experts have said they could become more frequent in the future, leading to the emergence of new variants of concern

The world is contending with a variety of different coronavirus variants (AFP/Getty)

Scientists have warned of the possibility of Covid variants combining and sharing characteristics as infections surge and the virus is given more opportunity to diversify.

These “recombination” events have been recorded intermittently throughout the pandemic so far – but experts fear they could become more frequent and create new variants of concern.

“It’s something that could happen on a larger scale,” said Emma Thomson, a professor in infectious diseases at Glasgow University’s Centre for Virus Research. “We need to be very aware of that and looking out for it with the sequencing.”