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Updated: December 24, 2020 1:06:33 pm
FILE – In this Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020 file photo, a woman passes a suitcase by the Christmas tree on the esplanade of Waterloo Station in central London. (Victoria Jones / PA via AP, file)
A potentially more infectious new variant of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been found in Britain in cases related to South Africa, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Wednesday.
South Africa’s health department said last week that a new genetic mutation of the virus had been discovered and could be responsible for a recent spike in infections there.
“Thanks to the impressive genomic capacity of South Africans, we have detected two cases of another new coronavirus variant here in the UK,” Hancock told a news conference.
“They are both case contacts who have traveled from South Africa in recent weeks.”
Britain is already trying to stem the spread of a mutated strain of the virus, which is up to 70% more transmissible, and no further studies are being done on the new variant.
“This new variant is very concerning, because it is even more transmissible and appears to have mutated more than the new variant has been discovered in the UK,” he said.
Close contacts of those with the new variant and all those who have been to South Africa in the last fortnight, or were in close contact with someone who had it, should be quarantined, he said.
Immediate restrictions on travel from South Africa were being imposed, he added.
In recent days, countries around the world have closed their borders to Great Britain and South Africa following the identification of new variants of the fast-spreading coronavirus.
“So the new variant in the UK, which we have identified, is very different from the variant in South Africa, it has different mutations,” said Susan Hopkins from Public Health England.
“Both seem to be more transmittable. We have more evidence on transmission of the UK variant because we have been studying it in great detail with academic partners. We are still learning about the South African variant. “
He expressed confidence that the spread of the South African-related variant would be controlled and said that vaccines that have already been developed should be effective.
“We have no evidence at the moment that the vaccine doesn’t work, so actually that means there is solid evidence that it will work, because the vaccine produces a strong immune response and is broad and works against many variations in the virus,” he said. .
