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Previous studies have shown that the British strain of the virus is more contagious than the original. Furthermore, the UK prime minister said last month that the new strain could be “linked to higher mortality rates”.
The new assessment of the situation confirmed that the prime minister voiced his suspicions publicly, but scientists say increasingly detailed investigations into the deaths are needed.
The British variant of the coronavirus has not been isolated in the UK alone for some time; It is spreading throughout the world and isolated cases of this strain have also been detected in Lithuania. The New York Times reported last week that the virus had been detected in at least 82 countries. A study published earlier this month showed that the British strain in the United States is spreading so fast that the number of people infected with this strain is doubling every 10 days.
“This information indicates that B.1.1.7 is likely to become the dominant variant of the virus in many US states by March 2021 and will lead to further growth of COVID-19 in that country unless take immediate containment measures, “said the authors of the previous study.
The authors of that study also indicated that the British strain of the virus is 35-45%. more contagious than other varieties that are spread in the United States. Researchers have expressed concern that this variant could lead to the development of mutations that could make the virus resistant to vaccine-induced immunity.
It is not yet known why the death rate caused by the British variant is higher. The researchers said one of the possible reasons is that infected people may have higher levels of viral cells, which generally hinders the course of the disease.
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