A new ‘mutated’ coronavirus strain is sweeping in the UK across London and southern England. Most scientist believe that the strain is more contagious and more deadly that the first.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the fast-moving new variant of the virus is 70% more transmissible than existing strains, and appears to be driving a rapid spike in new infections in London and southern England.
However, “there’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” or that vaccines would be less effective against it, he said. Britain has however been put on a black list and Germany has even banned flights from the UK, we wrote about it here>>.
When was the mutated virus identified?
The UK alerted the World Health Organisation that the new coronavirus strain — identified last week — was the likely cause of the surge in infections, accounting for around 60% of London’s cases.
There’s over 1,100 cases of people with the new variant that have been idenified as of Sunday according to a statement from Public Health England.
The strain had also been detected in South Africa last week.
New lockdown announced in the UK.
DW reported that in response to the surge, Johnson announced a stay at home order for the capital and southeast England, until at least December 30, to slow the spread of the disease.
“We’re learning about it as we go, but we already know enough, more than enough, to be sure that we must act now,” Johnson said during a press conference on Saturday. “When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our method of defence.”
Source: DW, Afronews