Britain says new coronavirus variant up to 70% more transmissible
LONDON (REUTERS) – Following are details of a new coronavirus variant that has been identified in the United Kingdom, given at a news conference on Saturday (Dec 19) by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Patrick Vallance, Britain’s chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, the chief medical adviser.
– The new variant is thought to have first occurred in mid-September in London or Kent, in the south-east of England.
– British analysis suggests it may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the old variant, which could increase the reproduction “R” rate by 0.4.
– There is no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness.
– There is no evidence suggesting vaccines will be any less effective against the new variant.
– The new variant contains 23 different changes, many of them associated with alterations in a protein made by the virus.
Vallance said this was an unusually large number of changes.
– It has variants in areas of the virus that are known to be associated with how the virus binds to cells and enters cells.
– The variant has spread quickly in London, the south-east and east of England, becoming the dominant form of the virus in these areas.
– In London, 62 per cent of cases were due to the new variant in the week of Dec 9. That compared to 28 per cent three weeks earlier.
– In London, the overall infection rate doubled in the last week.
– In areas where the new variant was dominant, hospital admission rates were rising quickly and previously agreed social restrictions were no longer strong enough.
– Vallance said he thought the new variant may be in other countries as well but might have started in Britain.
– The UK submitted its findings to the World Health Organisation on Friday night.
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