Australia detects the first case of the highly transmissible COVID-19 strain dubbed XEC

In short:

Australia has recorded its first cases of the XEC COVID-19 variant that has been spreading in Europe this year.

The mutation is a "recombinant" variant that is a mix of two previous Omicron subvariants called KS 1.1 and KP 3.3.

What's next?

An infectious disease expert says the strain has the hallmarks of something that could lead to a "summer wave" of infections.