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Following the emergence of a new strain of the Corona virus in the UK, concern among epidemiologists has increased and many countries suspended flights from Britain on Sunday. So what do we know so far about the new strain of the Corona virus?
The appearance of a new strain of Coronavirus In the UK, it is more contagious than other strains, to exacerbate concern among epidemiologists, prompting the suspension of flights from many countries from British soil on Sunday.
New race
Featured Scientific Advisor To the British government Patrick Vallance said Saturday that this new strain, in addition to its rapid spread, has also become the “dominant” form of the virus after it caused a “sharp increase” in cases requiring hospitalization in December.
This strain may have appeared in mid-September in London or Kent (south-east), he said.
“The Advisory Group on Threats from New and Emerging Respiratory Viruses now believes that this new strain may spread more rapidly,” Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
This opinion is based on the observation of “a sharp increase in the number of injuries and cases requiring hospitalization in London and the South East compared to the rest of England in recent days,” said Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University. from East Anglia, to the “Science Media Center” website.
“It seems that this increase is due to the new strain,” he said, referring to information provided by health authorities.
However, “there is no indication at this time that this new strain causes a high mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments, but work is underway to confirm this,” according to Chris Whitty.
Concerned epidemiologists
The information on this new strain is very disturbing, Professor Peter Openshaw, an immune system specialist at Imperial College London, told the “Science Media Center” website, especially as “it appears to be 40 to 70 percent higher. transmissible”.
Professor John Edmunds from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine added: “This is very bad news. It appears that this strain is much more contagious than the previous strain.”
French geneticist Axel Kan stated on his Facebook page that so far, “300,000 Cove-2 strains have been detected in the world.”
The new strain carries a mutation called “N501Y” in the “spiny” protein of the Coronavirus, which is present on its surface and allows it to adhere to human cells to penetrate it.
According to Dr Julian Tang of the University of Leicester, “This strain spread sporadically earlier this year outside the UK, in Australia between June and July, in the US in July and in Brazil in April.”
Professor Julian Hiscox from the University of Liverpool said: “Coronaviruses are mutating all the time and therefore it is not surprising that new strains of SARS-Cove-2 have emerged. The most important thing is to know if this strain has characteristics that would affect human health, diagnostics and vaccines. ” .
Axel Kan noted that “the higher the number of infections, the greater the chances of a random mutation of the virus and the higher the frequency of the mutation.”
Suspension of flights
The spread of this new strain of the Corona virus led the British authorities to re-impose blockade measures in London and part of England (16 million people).
“Unfortunately, the new strain is out of control. We have to regain control of the situation and the only way to do that was to restrict social contact. It will be very difficult to keep it under control until a vaccine is distributed,” the secretary said Sunday. of British Health Matt Hancock.
And then The Netherlands has suspended all flights from the UK. On Sunday they were followed by Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, Kuwait and Ireland.
France 24 / AFP
