At a so-called hasty press conference on Saturday, Johnson said the new type appears to be “70% more transmissible”, and is responsible for the significant increase in cases in London and the south-east of England. Those areas will now be placed under an intense form of lockdown, Jones said.
Limitations are the latest barrier to an epidemic-shaded Christmas holiday. As winter descends into the Northern Hemisphere, governments from Asia to Europe have tightened social-distance rules and reintroduced lockdown measures to combat the surge in Covid-19 cases. The discovery of a new variant has intensified the concern Big restrictions will now continue for a long time until the new year.
Outside the UK, the new variant has been identified in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.
Australian health officials said two cases of the variant had been found in the management quarantine in Sydney, while the Italian health ministry said in a report on Sunday that one patient had contracted the variant and was being kept under isolation in Rome.
All viruses mutate over time and a common emergence of new variants, including the novel coronavirus. U.K. A similar type known as is also known in South Africa, where scientists say it is spreading rapidly in the country’s coastal areas.
What can we learn about the new variable?
England’s chief medical officer Chris Fischer Chris Whitty warned on Saturday that the UK’s new variant was “spreading faster” and was responsible for 60% of infections in the capital, which had almost doubled in the past week alone.
Whitey warned that there was currently no evidence to suggest that the new type was more lethal, or would neutralize the effectiveness of the new approved vaccines. However, more easily transmitted viruses can result in more cases, resulting in more hospitalizations and potentially more deaths. Even with a single vaccine, it can do little to control the spread of the virus.
Tracing backwards using genetic evidence suggests that a new form of the UK emerged in September and then circulated to very low levels in the population by mid-November, according to the England Public Health (EPH).
“The increase in cases involving the new variant came to light in late November when PHE was investigating why infection rates in Kent did not decrease despite a national ban. We then found a cluster associated with this variant that spread rapidly in London and Essex.” Said the agency.
Multiple experts have suggested that this new variant could be expanded due to the superspider event; It may be a mutation that spreads more easily without causing a more serious illness; Or it could be by chance.
The agency said that EPH’s scientific transmission scientists have not identified a specific mechanism for the potential increase in transmission, although a change in the spike protein in general could increase the transmissibility of the part of the virus that attaches itself to host cells.
Travel restrictions
As of Monday, dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East and the United States had announced travel bans for the UK. Others, such as Greece and Spain, have imposed restrictions that require passengers coming from Britain to undergo coronavirus tests or quarantine.
In South America, Argentina, Chile and Colombia have suspended direct flights to and from the UK, and have banned anyone from entering the country from El Salvador, Britain.
Hong Kong became the first country in Asia to ban British passengers on Monday, banning all passenger flights from the UK from Tuesday and banning all passengers who have stayed in the UK for more than two hours in the past 14 days from coming to the city.
In the Middle East, flights from the UK were banned in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel.
And across Europe, countries have closed their borders to UK tourists, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Republic of Ireland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
The 48-hour ban on all travel brought from the UK by France since midnight on Sunday has been particularly disruptive, as it includes freight trucks traveling through the Eurotunnel under the English Channel. Port on Dover, on the south coast of England, announced on Sunday night that its ferry terminal was “closed to all traffic exiting the UK until further notice due to border restrictions in France.”
A prime minister’s spokesman told CNN that an emergency meeting of UK government officials on Monday would focus on international sanctions, and “a steady flow of fares, especially in and out of the UK,” told CNN. The spokesperson added that more meetings are being held this evening and tomorrow morning to ensure strong meetings are implemented.
On Monday, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tried to allay fears of food disruptions, saying the Eurotunnel from Dover to Calais only accounts for 20% of cargo going in and out of the country.
“It’s not the main base, most of the goods come in and out of uncontested containers and that will continue.”
CNN’s Amy Woodat, Taylor Barnes and Tara John contributed to the report.
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