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The faster-spreading ‘English’ variant of Covid is scary and creates further turmoil on a continent already struggling with complicated management of the pandemic during the Christmas holidays – so virtually all of Europe, including Italy, has decided to suspend flights with Great Britain. But the virus mutation is already circulating on the continent and at night Italy announced that it had found a positive subject for the new variant. “The patient, and his partner who returned from the United Kingdom in recent days with a flight landed at Fiumicino airport, are in isolation and have followed all the procedures established by the Ministry of Health,” the same ministry said in a note. . The variant found in recent weeks in Great Britain has also already been tracked in Holland, Denmark, Australia and perhaps South Africa. “It is out of control,” London authorities admitted, to the point of doubling infections in the Kingdom in just one week.
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The confirmation of the isolation of the virus variant also comes from Paola Stefanelli, from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, who spoke tonight about Tg1: “Now we need in vitro laboratory analysis”. Then Alessandro Carabelli, a researcher at the University of Cambrige, who participated in the study of the first variant, also spoke about Tg1: “It is advisable to have genomic and epidemiological data,” he emphasized. How does the mutation work? «I will only add one detail: what makes this variant special is the presence of 23 mutations that the virus has acquired in a very short time. The virus mutates, but very slowly: one or two mutations a month, extremely slow. You can understand that accumulating 23 mutations in a matter of weeks is something unique. This variant is interesting, to be monitored ».
The most contagious new strain
The new strain of Covid is terrifying mainly because it is highly contagious (up to 70% more in London and the south-east of England) enough to force the British government to impose a blockade on the capital. The WHO has made it known that it is in “close contact” with Boris Johnson’s men, and in the meantime has invited all European governments to “strengthen their control and prevention procedures.” It is not yet certain that the disease is more lethal, in fact there are those who exclude it, but there is the possibility that it “affects diagnostic methods,” the UN body warned. As for the vaccine, however, according to the University of Oxford (which is working on the drug with AstraZeneca) the new variant “does not worry”. However, to avoid unpleasant surprises, the European Foreign Ministries have decided to take cover, effectively isolating Britain. The tightening, as is often the case in the EU, was not carried out in any particular order. The Netherlands began, suspending flights to London until January 1.
Then it was the turn of Belgium (trains too) and Italy. The ordinance, announced by Chancellor Luigi Di Maio and signed by Health Minister Roberto Speranza, has already entered into force until January 6. And the last British flight from London landed in Fiumicino in the afternoon. A decision made after a “confrontation with scientists,” Speranza explained. The stoppage of the flights was also decided by Germany, which, as sitting EU president, took steps to assess the situation with its partners. Convene a video conference attended by Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel (absent from Italy) in an attempt to find a common response to this new emergency. The fighting continued at the Sherpa level. The general orientation, as leaked by the German government, appears to be that of a stopover to flights with London by the 27, even with a limitation of ferries and road connections through the Channel Tunnel, while only transport the goods will continue to function normally. France and Ireland have already gone further, cutting all connections “for at least 48 hours”. Caution is essential, considering that in Great Britain there has been an increase of more than 50% of infections in one week. The variant appears “out of control,” admitted Health Minister Matt Hancock, warning that the restrictions “could last for months, until the vaccine is widely distributed.”
Britain’s closure evokes the dramatic scenario of last spring, when the growing momentum of the first wave of the pandemic forced Europe to block its borders, both internal and external. And it could be even worse, with a total rift between London and the EU in case no deal is reached on post-Brexit trade deals. As if that were not enough, very severe restrictions on mobility were reintroduced in recent days throughout Europe, effectively canceling Christmas
