India has suspended flights to and from the UK due to the new variant of the coronavirus which is significantly more contagious.
A new strain of coronavirus is spreading across the south of England, leading to tighter restrictions at home and flight bans within Europe and globally. The UK has said that a new, fast-moving variant of the virus may be 70% more transmissible than existing strains, and it appears to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.
On Monday, India joined several other countries in banning flights to and from the UK on December 22-31 in hopes of slowing the spread of the new strain. Also read: India suspends flights to and from the UK amid spread of mutant coronavirus
So what do we know about the new mutation of the virus?
A statement from the office of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that initial analysis suggests that the new variant could increase R by 0.4 or more. Although there is considerable uncertainty, it can be up to 70% more transmissible than the previous variant.
However, “there is no evidence to suggest that it is more lethal or causes more serious disease” or that vaccines are less effective against it, he said.
“It is too early to tell, but from what we see so far, it is growing very fast, it is growing faster than [a previous variant] It never grew, but it is important to keep an eye out for this, “said Dr Erik Volz of Imperial College London.
Britain has alerted the World Health Organization that the new strain, identified last week, is the likely cause of the surge in infections, accounting for about 60% of London cases.
Also Read: No Need To Panic: Health Min Harsh Vardhan On New Mutated Coronavirus Strain
As of Sunday, just over 1,100 COVID-19 cases had been identified with the new variant, according to a statement from Public Health England. The variant can be found throughout the UK except Northern Ireland, but it is highly concentrated in London, the South East and the East of England. Cases in other parts of the country do not appear to have skyrocketed similarly so far. The strain was also detected in South Africa last week.
Virus mutations are not unusual, and scientists have already found thousands of different mutations among coronavirus samples. However, most of these mutations have no effect on how easily the virus spreads or the severity of symptoms.
When the new UK strain was first detected last week, health officials debated whether the rapid spread of the virus was due to widespread neglect or the spread of the strain itself. After further investigation, the scientists discovered that the new strain is, in fact, significantly more transmissible.
However, they do not believe that the variant leads to an increase in severe disease or more serious side effects.
Researchers are still evaluating whether the strain will be more or less receptive to the vaccines that are currently being implemented. No formal conclusions have been reached, although health authorities have said the mutation is unlikely to hamper the vaccines’ effectiveness.
Richard Neher, from the Biozentrum at the University of Basel in Switzerland, has said that vaccines elicit an immune response against several characteristics of the virus at the same time. Thus, even if one of those characteristics changes, the immune system could still recognize the pathogen and protect the vaccine recipient.
“I don’t see any reason to be alarmed at the moment,” Neher told the dpa news agency, adding that further developments still need to be monitored.
Last month, millions of minks were found to carry a variant of COVID-19. In October, researchers also found evidence that a variant of the coronavirus had originated in Spain and spread across Europe. However, none of the strains were found to increase the spread of the disease.
(With inputs from DW, PTI)
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