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The warning came from the UK, which has classified a variation of the new coronavirus as “out of control”, in a strain it says is far more contagious than the one that has so far spread in the country.
Covid-19 mutation: Argentina and Chile suspend flights from the UK; see other countries
The yellow light set off a chain reaction, with several countries announcing restrictions on travelers from the UK and other countries where there are indications or confirmed cases of this Covid-19 mutation.
On British soil, Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a sharp step back from reopening the country and announced a series of new restrictions to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The prime minister had been indicating that he would go in the opposite direction, easing the guidelines by the end of the year. “This is now spreading very fast,” Johnson warned. “It is with a heavy heart that I say that we cannot continue with Christmas as planned.”
Like almost everything related to the pandemic, political decisions have to be made with the car running, when everything about the challenges ahead is still unknown. So far, the outlook is for more rapid contamination, but it is no longer deadly or immune to a vaccine.
“There is some evidence that this strain may be more infectious. There is no evidence that it is more deadly me there is no evidence that it is more resistant to a vaccine“, he summarized, in an interview with the CNN Abby Philip, MD, Ashish Jha, from Brown University School of Public Health.
Origin and diffusion
In an interview with the British channel BBC this Sunday (20), the technical leader of the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Van Kerkhove, said that current data indicate that the new variant appeared in England, between the southeast of the country and capital. , London.
Maria said that Covid-19 cases caused by the most contagious strain were seen in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. By the end of Sunday, at least one case had already been registered in Italy.
The weekend ended with growing announcements from countries imposing travel restrictions on UK passengers.
The Netherlands has adopted one of the longest restrictions, deciding that flights from the UK will be prevented from landing in the country by the end of 2020. The Dutch government said the strain was identified in a patient, diagnosed in early 2020. December, and that is investigating if there are other cases.
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French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced a 48-hour suspension of travel between the two countries on all modes of transport.
The Irish government has taken similar steps. The country announced the suspension of flights “for the good of public health”, initially on Monday (21) and Tuesday (22). The same in Belgium. According to Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the Belgians will determine the air blockade for 24 hours and will reassess whether it will need to be extended.
In the case of Israel, the decision goes further. The country chose to restrict flights not only from the United Kingdom, but also from Denmark and South Africa, where the new mutation would also have been registered. Saudi Arabia has suspended all international flights to the country, regardless of origin, for at least a week.
Spain will strengthen the requirement and conference of tests of the PCR type, mandatory for entry to the country, of British passengers. El Salvador will close the borders with the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Are mutations normal?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “all viruses, including the Covid-19 virus, change over time.”
Viruses are the simplest structures known on our planet: they are basically genetic material surrounded by a protein capsule. This simplicity makes it highly changeable.
In a recent interview with CNN, Renato Kfouri, director of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), affirms that these variations are normal and occur when viruses reproduce.
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“Every time viruses are copied, they can skip a part and create a microvariant. It’s like cutting their hair, shaving, applying lipstick. It’s different in one specific detail,” he said.
As of November, at least eight strains of Covid-19 were in circulation in Brazil, according to the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz).
How to prevent the pollution
So far, none of the mutations registered in Brazil or in the world is different to the point of “escaping” from the coverage of vaccines already developed against the new coronavirus disease.
“So far there is no demonstration that these mutations are related to greater severity, faster transmission or a different aspect than what the vaccine does not cover,” said Kfouri of SBIm.
Ashish Jha of Brown University supports this assessment. “I think the vaccine will end up being effective for all of these strains, but obviously we will have to look at this very carefully,” he said.
For Jha, the only solution is to reinforce the use of individual protection masks and social distance, containing the spread of the new coronavirus. With less contagion, less reproduction and mutation.
(With information from CNN International, from Anna Satie and Jéssica Otoboni, from CNN, in São Paulo)
