New coronavirus variant: Why is it causing concern?

New coronavirus variant: Why is it causing concern?

New coronavirus variant: Why is it causing concern?

After UK, Mutant COVID Strain Discovered In South Africa

Advertisement

The UK was the first country to approve the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. However, experts have raised concerns as a new variant of coronavirus has been reported in the country. 

Various nations have imposed travel bans on the UK as the new variant is rapidly spreading. The government’s advisers on new infections have “moderate” confidence that it is more able to transmit than other variants.

 Why experts are concerned?

 According to a report by the BBC, three factors have raised concerns:

    Advertisement
  • It is rapidly replacing other versions of the virus
  • It has mutations that affect the part of the virus likely to be important
  • Some of those mutations have already been shown in the lab to increase the ability of the virus to infect cells

“Laboratory experiments are required, but do you want to wait for weeks or months [to see the results and take action to limit the spread]? Probably not in these circumstances,” Prof Nick Loman, from the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, told BBC’s health correspondent.

 How much faster is it spreading?

Advertisement

 According to the sources, the new variant was first detected in September. Around a quarter of cases in London were the new variant in November. 

Advertisement
Advertisement
Read More News On

Catch all the Health News, Breaking News Event and Latest News Updates on The BOL News


Download The BOL News App to get the Daily News Update & Follow us on Google News.


End of Article

Next Story