Covid England variant, “alarming exodus from London locked in”

Published on: 12/20/2020 8:57 AM

London, South East and East England officially blocked to ‘level 4’, the strictest level of restrictions ever adopted, after the discovery of a new variant of Coronavirus that appears to be faster to spread and more contagious.

The new lockdown restrictions announced yesterday afternoon by Prime Minister Johnson and the British government, explains The Guardian, “appear to have caused” last night “an alarming exodus of people from London who hoped to avoid it by going to other parts of the country. (Less affected by Covid) We hope this will not translate into more cases in those regions, but it is difficult to see how it will be ”, the reflection.

Meanwhile, the WHO reports via Twitter that it is “in close contact with UK officials about the new variant of the Covid-19 virus. They will continue to share information and the results of their ongoing analyzes and studies. We will update member states. and the public as we learn more about the characteristics of this variant of the virus and its possible implications. “

The new Covid-19 variant has been identified in the UK “through Public Health England genomic surveillance.” This was stated by Chris Whitty, the country’s medical director, in an official note published yesterday, after there was a first announcement last Monday. “And it is now believed that the new strain may circulate faster, given the variant’s rapid spread, data emerging from preliminary models, and rapidly increasing incidence rates in the Southeast.” “We have alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) – informs the British health authority – and we continue to analyze the available data to improve our understanding” of the impact of this variant. At this time “there is no evidence to suggest that the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments – specifies the expert – although urgent work is being done to confirm it.” “In light of these latest developments, the conclusion, it is now more vital than ever that we continue to act to reduce transmission” of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus.