“The new variant is very worrying, because it is even more transmissible,” said the Minister of Health (Archive)
London:
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 curb the spread of a mutated strain of the virus that is up to 70% more transmissible, and more studies are underway 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.
“They both appear to be more transmissible. 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.
“At the moment, we have no evidence that the vaccine does not work, so what that really means is that there is strong evidence that it will work, because the vaccine produces a strong immune response and is broad and works against many variations of the virus. “, said.
(With the exception of the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
.
