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Experts call for caution, stressing that it is not yet known whether a new strain is more transmissible, infectious or dangerous.
A new strain of coronavirus has been found and is spreading rapidly in parts of England, members of the British Parliament have reported.
UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said that at least 60 local officials have reported covid infections caused by the new strain.
Hancock said that the WHO (World Health Organization) has been notified and that British scientists are conducting detailed studies.
He said “nothing suggests” that the new strain causes more severe symptoms or that the vaccine will no longer work.
The minister also told MPs in the UK House of Commons that, over the past week, there have been drastic and exponential increases in the number of coronavirus infections in London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
“We currently identify over a thousand cases with this variety, mainly in southern England, although occurrences have been identified in almost 60 different locations,” Hancock said.
“We do not know to what extent this is due to this new variety, but regardless of the cause, we have to take swift and decisive action, which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is distributed.”
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said current PCR tests for coronavirus – those in which samples are collected with a swab inserted into the nose and throat – can detect the new variety.
Alan McNally, an expert from the University of Birmingham, said British testing labs had identified the new strain in recent weeks.
“Let’s not get hysterical. It does not mean that the new variety is more transmissible, infectious or dangerous,” McNally told the BBC.
“It is something to keep in mind,” says the expert. “Great efforts are being made to characterize the variety and understand its appearance. It is important to maintain a calm and rational perspective on the subject, since it is a normal evolution of the virus and it is expected that new varieties will emerge, disappear and emerge with the weather”.
Jeremy Farrar, director of the philanthropic institution that supports Wellcome scientific research, said the situation is potentially dire.
“Surveillance and investigation must continue and we must take the necessary steps to stay one step ahead of the virus.”
Analysis by James Gallagher, BBC Science and Health Correspondent
There is a simple rule of thumb for understanding all “new strains” or “new varieties”: ask if the behavior of the virus has changed.
This is crucial, since viruses mutate all the time, it is their nature. So far, we have received the scare, but not the answer.
Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new strain of coronavirus “may be associated” with a more rapid spread in south-east England.
This is not the same as saying that the new variety is “causing” this acceleration. Hancock also didn’t say that the virus evolved to spread from person to person more easily.
The new varieties may become more common for reasons that have nothing to do with the virus.
One explanation for the appearance of the “Spanish variety” in the summer was tourism, for example.
So at the moment, there are scary headlines everywhere, but there is no scientific information yet for us to know how significant that is.
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