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secondBeyond Downing Street, the World Health Organization has said it has yet to see data to support the UK’s announcement that variant B.1.1.7 is “deadlier” and more communicable.
At a virtual press conference that took place concurrently with the Downing Street briefing, Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the WHO emergency program, urged people to “remain calm about the issues of these variants “.
“There is a big difference between the lethality of a virus, how many people on average a virus kills, and the morality of the virus. If I have a million people infected and my lethality is 1 percent, or two million people infected with a 1% fatality, twice as many people will die.
“We are not seeing so far, but we will wait to see, that the disease is more lethal. We are seeing that … increased incidence leads to increased mortality. If their cases get out of control, their deaths will spiral control, as their healthcare system is overwhelmed, “said Dr. Ryan.
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who is leading the WHO Covid-19 response, added that the UN agency is tracking a number of variants and working closely with countries to assess them.
It added that it is “encouraged by signs of a decline in transmission in the UK”, suggesting that the measures put in place are having an impact and are controlling the virus and the new variant.
Dr Van Kerkhove reiterated that WHO has not yet seen data from the UK to suggest that B.1.1.7 is more transmissible.
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