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A study released by the British Government indicates that the new variant of the new coronavirus, now prevalent in the country, can be up to 70% more deadly than the previous ones. The northern municipality where this variant has the highest incidence is Caminha, in Alto Minho, according to the mayor.
The new report, which is based on the analysis of about 12 studies, reveals that the variant called ‘Kent’, name of the county where it was initially identified, is probably between 30% and 70% more lethal than other variants.
These studies compared hospitalization and mortality rates among people infected with the new variant and with others.
“The results of the analysis are concerning,” said Dr. David Strain, a professor at the University of Exeter School of Medicine and a Covid-19 clinical officer at Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.
“Higher transmissibility means that people who were previously among those at low risk of contracting COVID-19 [particularmente as mulheres mais jovens e em boa forma física] now they are picking it up and ending up in the hospital, “Strain said.
According to the same expert, “this is highlighted by the latest figures of hospitalized patients, which now indicate a ratio of almost 50:50 between men and women, compared to the fact that it predominates in men in the first wave.”
The results of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group Study, published Friday on the British government’s official website, are based on preliminary research, which was released on January 21.
The study group includes experts from universities and public agencies across the UK.
Scientific consultants to the UK Government are also concerned about how mutations can alter the characteristics of the disease.
The UK variant had a 43% prevalence last Thursday in the number of new COVID-19 cases registered in Portugal, Prime Minister António Costa said that day.
Greater incidence in Caminha
The mayor of Caminha, Miguel Alves (PS), announced this Saturday that this municipality of Alto Minho is the one with the highest incidence of the English strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the northern region of the country. He added that, in that municipality, the largest number of new cases occurred in the age group between 0 and 9 years.
In a video published on the municipality’s social networks, Miguel Alves also said that only in January more people died and more infections were detected than in all of 2020. “A terrible month in January,” calls the mayor.
“Today the situation is much better, we have a slower growth of cases, we have fewer active cases, but that should not make us lower our guard under any circumstances”, he appeals, indicating that “any mistake, any slip, can leave everything to lose ”.
“In the municipality of Caminha, the age group with the highest number of infections is the age group between zero and nine years old. This does not happen on all sides. Caminha is distinguished by this note and characteristic, but more ”, Miguel Alves began by saying.
According to the mayor, Caminha is the “municipality of the entire northern region, not just the district of Viana do Castelo, where the English strain is more present in each case of infection.”
“I tell you this to realize that you really have to be careful and that despite the exhaustion we all feel in this confinement, we cannot give up. We cannot facilitate it, ”he stressed.
The covid-19 pandemic caused at least 2,394,541 deaths worldwide, as a result of more than 108.5 million cases of infection, according to a report prepared by the French agency AFP.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China.
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