WHO says it is in contact with the United Kingdom to receive information on the new variant of the coronavirus | Coronavirus

• UK’s new variant of coronavirus could be up to 70% more transmissible, says Boris Johnson

“They [os especialistas do Reino Unido] will continue to share information and results of analyzes and studies. We will update the member states [da OMS] and to the public when we know more about the characteristics of the variant of the virus and its implications, “said the entity in a social network.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that the new coronavirus mutation located in the United Kingdom could be up to 70% more transmittable, according to a preliminary analysis.

During Saturday’s speech, Johnson said plans to ease traffic restrictions over Christmas would be canceled in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.

There is no evidence that the variant causes more severe cases or a higher death rate, even if it is resistant to vaccines.

Scientists at Sage, a group of independent UK researchers who advise the government, say that all viruses mutate, with most of them just leaving the virus dysfunctional.

“Sometimes they lead to a new trait that is beneficial to the virus, that is, it increases the transmission capacity, which is its ‘target’, if you were aware,” they said.

According to them, this is the beaba of evolutionary theory: by definition, the mutations that remain in the species and spread are those that give some kind of advantage and that will not disappear.

In the case of a virus, this is accelerated millions of times, given the replication rate of the species. In the case of parasites, there are a number of mutations that can occur when you cross the species barrier to adapt to a new host, in this case, humans.

Sars-Cov-2 may still be in its early period of adaptation to humans.

Rapidly identified mutation

“The latest variant, called VUI202012 / 01, has many mutations compared to the original Wuhan virus. Many of these mutations appear alone or in combinations with each other in other variants of the virus that circulate both in the UK and in other countries ”, they say. the Sage scientists.

There is a consortium of researchers studying the Sars-Cov-2 genome, so variants are quickly identified.

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