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The new “mutant” strain of the virus, which originated in Kent, is being blamed for a sudden spike in hospitalizations in the capital.
Boris Johnson could announce the new travel tip Saturday at a press conference according to The Sun.
Speaking to the newspaper, a source said: “This is a live and fluid situation, but it doesn’t look good and we have to act fast.”
Another suggested that the new strain could be 50 percent more infectious than the standard coronavirus.
Some areas in the southeast could face a significant change in coronavirus advisories that could affect holiday travel for those living in the capital.
Speaking to The Sun, a government source admitted that the mutation is more easily transmitted than the original strain of the pathogen.
The source said: “What we don’t know yet is whether the new strain is more or less likely to harm you, but what we have learned is that it will pass from person to person much more easily and that is who we really are. worried.”
Professor Nick Loman, from the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham, said the new strain had probably been developed in the UK, although there was no certainty that was the case.
He said: “There are actually 17 changes that would affect the structure of the protein in some way that distinguishes this variant from its common ancestor type from other variants that are circulating, which is a lot.”
“It is surprising. There is a very long branch that goes back to the common ancestor, and it is a matter of great interest to know why this is so.
The news comes after Johnson refused to rule out another total lockdown in England after the holiday period.
The prime minister called on the British to abide by coronavirus restrictions during Christmas.
He told BBC News: “What we are saying now during this Christmas period is think about those rules about the three households that you can bubble with, all five days, which is a maximum that is not a target.
“I think people really understand this. All the evidence that I’m seeing is that people really understand that this is the time to care and think about our elderly.”
Education Minister Nick Gibb insisted that England’s tier system is “very effective.”
However, he admitted that “we did not rule anything out” when asked about the chances of a national shutdown after Christmas.
Royal College of Emergency Medicine President Dr Katherine Henderson warned of a “real perfect storm” for hospitals as they try to deal with a growing number of Covid-19 cases with non-Covid patients and diminished capacity. .
She said: “It seems to me that we have to do whatever it takes to get the situation firmly under control so that we can vaccinate people and then move on.”
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