UK fears of a new and more dangerous mutation in the corona virus: British Health Minister Matt Hancock announced last night (Wednesday) that a new variation of the corona virus has been identified in the country in two contagious that were contacts of cases that came from South Africa. He also warned that this is a more contagious mutation, which has undergone a broader genetic change than the previous one – and therefore may also be more dangerous.
Corona in the UK: London enters closure following British mutation (Photo: Reuters)
Last week, a new strain of the virus, 501.V2, was reported in South Africa, which may have even led to the second wave that broke out in the country a few weeks ago, according to the country’s health minister who warned of the new strain in his Twitter account. According to health authorities in South Africa, this strain is also spreading faster than its predecessor, but it is too early to know what its severity is and whether the current vaccines will work against it.
“Thanks to the impressive genomic ability of South Africans, we have discovered two cases of another new variation here in the UK, both contacts of cases that have come from South Africa in recent weeks,” Hancock added. “This new variation is very worrying because it is even more contagious, and it appears to have undergone a wider genetic change than the previous mutation discovered in the UK.”
He stressed that people who had been in contact with patients in the new variation, along with anyone who had come from South Africa in the past two weeks or had been in close contact with someone who had returned – must go into isolation. In addition, the UK immediately stopped flights from South Africa.
“The new variation in the UK, which we identified, is very different from the variation in South Africa, they have different mutations,” said Susan Hopkins of the UK Public Health Authority. “Both seem to be more contagious. We have more evidence of how the British variation is contagious because we have studied it in great detail with academic partners. We are still learning about the South African version.”
She expressed confidence that control of the South African mutation would be achieved and stated that the vaccines that had already been developed were supposed to be effective against her as well. “We have no evidence at the moment that the vaccine will not work, so in fact the fact is that there is strong evidence that it will work, because the vaccine produces a strong immune response and is broad and works against different variations of the virus.”