The United Kingdom recently reported that there is a new variant of the coronavirus outbreak that is understood to be able to spread COVID-19 rapidly.
UK health officials first identified a new variant of the outbreak in mid-September, said Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical chief for the World Health Organization, reports NBC News.
This mutated viral situation for Simon Clarke, professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading in the UK is a common occurrence. But what is worrying is that the new variant of this epidemic is understood to be spreading faster.
According to several international media reports, Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister has held an emergency meeting to discuss the new findings.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock says there is no sign that these new strains are likely to cause serious illness.
Professor Sir Mark Walport, a member of the UK’s scientific advisory group, added that it was possible that the new strain had “transmission advantages”, Bournemouth Echo reported.
Is this something extraordinary?
There have been many mutations of this type of virus since it appeared in 2019. This situation is actually expected by scientists. Where the Scottish Herald reported that SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus and this virus is capable of mutating and changing.
Public Health England (PHE) says that, as of December 13, 1,108 cases with this new variant have been identified, mainly in southern and eastern England. This mutation was later renamed VUI – 202012/01.
Is this something to worry about?
There is still a lot to learn actually, but it is also too early to make some claims about the effects of this viral mutation. But if it is true that this epidemic has started to spread faster, then it will be harder to control.
However, there are already different types of COVID-19 variants with unproven effects.
It is understood that these new mutations may have serious consequences, but in-depth studies and research need to be done to find out more. Is the new variant a bad omen?
Not necessarily, it may not even be too dangerous. However, if it spreads more easily, then more people will get sick in a shorter period of time.
What are the European countries doing?
Several European countries have already issued travel bans from the UK due to concerns over this new discovery.
Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Italy have already announced travel restrictions from the UK forcing millions in Britain to cancel their Christmas plans.
Boris Johnson, on the other hand, has issued an order to place London and the southeastern part of the UK under the strictest locking rules of Level 4.
We’re in close contact with UK 🇬🇧 officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant. They’ll continue to share info & results of their analysis & ongoing studies. We’ll update Member States & public as we learn more about the characteristics of this virus variant & any implications.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) December 19, 2020
Sources: Heraldscotland.com, Bournemouth.eco, NBC.news
