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The public call was issued a week before the beginning of the gradual relaxation of the third restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. The relaxation of quarantine measures will depend on the ability of vaccines to control a pandemic.
A mutation in the COVID-19 infection virus found in the northern region of Manaus, Brazil, has been identified in six people in the UK. One of them cannot be found because the person who was tested for coronavirus did not leave their contact details.
According to Susan Hopkins of Public Health England (PHE), the person is believed to have taken the test on February 12 or 13. The test sample may have been sent from home or from a local authority.
“We are explaining where this evidence could have been sent from and where it was sent, working with the postal and courier services,” he told BBC radio.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said large-scale tests were underway in South Gloucestershire in the west of England, where two cases of the Manaus strain of the coronavirus were detected.
“We will be able to control the spread of this strain in the community very, very quickly, because we can quickly scan the genome sequence,” he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has dismissed any doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccines.
Scanpix / AP Photo / Boris Johnson
“At the moment, we have no reason to think that our vaccines are ineffective against all these new strains of the virus,” the prime minister said during a visit to a newly created school next week.
Holes in the walls
However, experts warned that based on data from Brazil, the virus strain is spreading faster and is more resistant to antibodies than the prevalent UK strain, which appeared in southwest Kent County last September. .
“At the time, Manaus was reporting on a number of people who were re-infected with the virus strain, suggesting that the immunity that developed after the initial infection was not sufficient to reduce the spread and spread of the infection. Hopkins said.
“And it can affect vaccination,” he added.
In mid-January, the UK banned flights from South American countries, including Brazil, and a month later introduced a mandatory hotel quarantine requirement.
Two confirmed cases in South Gloucestershire belong to the same household. One of those infected flew from São Paulo via Zurich on February 10, five days before the introduction of mandatory quarantine in hotels.
The other three infected with the Brazilian strain are Scottish residents who flew to Aberdeen from Brazil via Paris and London. For all of them, the coronavirus infection was confirmed when these individuals were already isolated.
Johnson defended his government’s actions to protect against the introduction of new strains of COVID-19, with growing criticism over the late introduction of a quarantine requirement for hotel visitors.
“We acted as fast as we could to get started,” he said.
Great Britain is the European country most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, registering almost 123,000 people. deceased.
But on Sunday, the government announced that more than 20 million. have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. This message gives hope that the end of the pandemic is approaching imminence, provided that new strains of coronavirus can be controlled.
In England, next Monday, pupils are expected to return to school classes, and the country plans to gradually return to normal life in the coming months.
The government declares that it does not intend to change the planned easing schedule. The increase in COVID-19 testing of students to detect new infections early was highlighted, and it was emphasized that vaccination is very effective in reducing morbidity.
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