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Several countries have suspended flights with the United Kingdom after announcing the outbreak of a new strain of the emerging corona virus that causes “Covid 19”, believed to be the fastest-spreading virus, forcing authorities to tighten restrictions on some parts of the country.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new strain of the virus is 70% more transmittable than current strains, and it appears to be the reason behind the rapid rise in new infections in London and southern England, according to Deutsche Welle.
However, he said, “there is no evidence to indicate that it is more deadly or causes a more serious disease, or that vaccines are less effective against it”, which is consistent with what is expressed in the explanation of the World Health Organization .
Britain alerted the World Health Organization that the new strain, which was officially identified last week, was the likely cause of the spike in the number of infections, accounting for about 60% of London cases.
Authorities discovered just over 1,100 cases of the new strain as of Sunday, according to a statement from Public Health England. The new strain has also been discovered in South Africa, along with Denmark, the Netherlands, and Australia.
New closure
In response to an increase in infections, Johnson announced a stay-at-home order in the capital and south-east England, until at least December 30, to curb the spread of the disease.
Johnson said during a press conference:
We investigate as we go, but we already know enough, more than enough, to make sure we must act now. When the virus changes its method of attack, we must change our defense.
While Health Minister Matt Hancock said: “Given the speed with which this new species is spreading, it will be very difficult to keep it under control until the vaccine is released,” adding that it is already “out of control.”
Evolution of the virus
Viral mutations are not uncommon, and scientists have already found thousands of different mutations among samples of the emerging corona virus. However, most of these mutations have no effect on how easily the virus spreads or the severity of symptoms.
Viruses evolve all the time and most of the time new strains die and disappear, but sometimes they spread without changing the behavior of the virus and sometimes drastic changes occur.
The question that scientists face right now is whether the “VUI-202012/01” strain falls into the latter category. Is it a higher health risk? Or has it spread rapidly across the south of England recently because it has appeared in people ignoring the restrictions?
It is not known exactly where the new breed first appeared. But since the UK’s virus monitoring system is so robust, it probably caught it earlier than other countries. Experts suggest that the mutations that created this strain occurred in the UK, and for this reason they appeared there first.
More contagious
Last month, millions of mink animals carrying a different type of “Covid 19” were found to be infected. In October, researchers also found evidence that a type of coronavirus originated in Spain and had spread across Europe.
However, none of the new strains were shown to increase the spread of the disease.
When the new strain appeared in the UK for the first time last week, health officials debated whether the rapid spread of the virus was the result of widespread neglect or the infectiousness of the strain itself.
After further investigation, scientists have found that the new strain is, in fact, significantly more transmissible. However, the new strain does not cause an increase in severe disease or cause more serious side effects.
“If the new strain had a major effect on the severity of the disease, we would have seen it now,” said Ewan Bernie, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and deputy director of the European Institute of Bioinformatics in Cambridge.
Vaccine resistance
Researchers are still evaluating whether this strain will be more or less receptive to the vaccines that are currently being released. No official conclusions have been reached, although health authorities have said the mutation is unlikely to impede the effectiveness of the vaccines.
Richard Nehir of the “Bioscentrum” Center of the University of Basel in Switzerland, and Andreas Bergthaler of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, said that the vaccines elicit an immune response against many of the properties of the virus at the same time.
Therefore, they believe that even if one of these characteristics changes, the immune system will still be able to recognize the pathogen and protect the vaccine recipient. “I don’t see any cause for concern at this time, but more developments need to be monitored,” Nuhir said.
The World Health Organization said: “Initial signs that the new strain may spread more easily between people, and preliminary information that it may affect the performance of some diagnostic tests.”
But added
There is no evidence that the new strain caused any change in the severity of the disease, but this is also under investigation.
It urged its members around the world to “increase the determination of the genetic sequence of the virus whenever possible and share data internationally, to report if the same concerning mutations have been found.”
Caution is required
British government medical director Chris Whitty said we have alerted the World Health Organization to the rapid spread of the new strain and continue to analyze available data to improve our understanding of it, according to the “Guardian” newspaper.
These analyzes will include studying the new strain in laboratories, observing its responses to antibodies and testing its interactions with vaccines, and in addition, health officials are conducting surveys across the country to build regional maps of its spread. This will take at least two weeks.
What scientists must now address are concerns about the impact of the new strain, whether it will lead to an increase in severe cases of “Covid” disease or indeed less. The other big issue is whether you can circumvent the protection that vaccines provide.
Source: Sputnik
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