England’s chief medical officer announced on Saturday that the UK has identified a new strain of the coronavirus that can “spread faster” than previous strains of the virus, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban parts of the coronavirus. country to control the spread. .
“We’re learning about how we go about it, but we already know enough, more than enough, to make sure we have to work now,” Johnson said at a press conference on Saturday. where he imposed new restrictions on London and other parts of England ahead of the Christmas holidays.
“When the virus changes its mode of attack, we need to change our immune system,” Johnson said.
The UK government announced the new coronavirus strain on Monday following a rise in cases in the south and east of England. Just over 1,100 cases of Covid-19 with the new variant were identified as Sunday, according to a report from Public Health England.
Now, it is thought the new strain could be up to 70% more mobile than the original strain of the disease, Johnson said Saturday, adding that it appears to be driving the rapid spread of disease. Johnson called on residents to stop traveling and “stay local” to prevent the new snoring from moving around the country and abroad.
The United Kingdom reports around 24,061 new Covid-19 cases per day, based on a weekly average, which is an increase of more than 40% compared to a week ago, according to a CNBC study of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University .
“This is early data, and it is subject to review, but it is the best we have at the moment and we need to work on information as we have it because this is now spread very quickly, “Johnson said.
Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told the press conference that “viruses are in vogue all the time.” Seasonal flu is on the move every year, with other new changes of the coronavirus has already been identified in countries such as Spain, according to Public Health England.
What needs to be answered is whether the new strain spreads more easily, makes people sicker and changes the way a person’s immune system reacts to the virus if they were about early on in the disease or on the vaccine, Whitty said.
To date, a collection of evidence from genetic, frequency, and laboratory studies suggests that the new snoring is “a huge, huge increase in transmission,” Whitty said. However, there is no evidence to date that the new pressure is causing a higher mortality rate.
Health officials believe the new variant first appeared in mid-September in London or Kent, and by mid-November is thought to have caused around 28% of cases in London and Kent. elsewhere in the south-east of England, Whitty said.
Now those figures are much higher, he said. In London, data over the past week show that the new variable has made up more than 60% of new cases, Whitty said.
“So what this is telling us is that this new variant is not only moving fast, it is increasing in transmission capacity, but it is growing the The main difference is. It beats the others in terms of distribution, “he said.
Yet there is “no evidence” that it is causing more serious disease, more hospitalization or “more trouble than the other virus,” Whitty said. While there are reasons to suspect that the new variant may alter someone ‘s immune response to the disease, there is nothing to suggest that that is true so far, he said.
“Our current working view, from all scientists, is that the vaccine response should be appropriate for this virus,” he said. We need to be vigilant about this. “
The UK has notified the World Health Organization and will continue to examine data on the new snoring.