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GENEVA: The World Health Organization warned against widespread alarm over a highly infectious new variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in Britain, saying this was a normal part of the evolution of a pandemic.
WHO officials even shed a positive light on the discovery of the new strains that prompted a host of alarmed countries to impose travel restrictions on Britain and South Africa, saying that new tools to track the virus were working.
“We have to find a balance. It is very important to have transparency, it is very important to tell the public how things are, but it is also important to convey that this is a normal part of the evolution of the virus,” said the WHO chief of emergencies. , Mike Ryan. said an online briefing.
“Being able to track a virus so closely, so carefully, this scientifically in real time is a really positive development for global public health, and countries that do this kind of surveillance should be commended.”
Citing data from Britain, WHO officials said they had no evidence that the variant made people sicker or more deadly than existing strains of COVID-19, although it appeared to spread more easily.
READ: UK variant of COVID-19 may be better able to infect children: scientists
Countries that impose travel restrictions are very cautious when assessing risks, Ryan said, adding: “That’s prudent. But it’s also important for everyone to recognize that this happens, that these variants occur.”
WHO officials said coronavirus mutations had so far been much slower than with influenza and that even the new UK variant remained much less communicable than other diseases like mumps.
They said vaccines developed to combat COVID-19 should also handle the new variants, although controls were underway to ensure this was the case.
“So far, even though we have seen a number of changes, a number of mutations, none have had a significant impact on the susceptibility of the virus to any of the currently used therapies, drugs or vaccines and it is expected that it will continue to be. like this, “WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told the briefing.
The WHO said it expects to get more details in a few days or weeks on the potential impact of the highly communicable new strain of coronavirus.
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