Australian health officials said Monday they had confirmed two cases of a new strain of COVID-19 spreading faster than its previous mutations.
Reuters reported that New South Wales Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant on Monday confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 across the state, including two believed to be the new rapidly spreading strain that forced authorities to close this weekend’s Christmas shopping season.
Officials confirmed that “several passengers from the UK have returned with certain mutations,” Chant said, adding that there are no believed cases in the community.
“Everyone coming from the UK goes into a 14-day hotel quarantine and there is no risk, because that quarantine works so successfully,” added Paul Kelly, Australia’s top health official.
The news of the strain’s arrival in Australia comes just two days after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned residents of the dangers posed by the new strain and implemented measures to close businesses and restrict meetings.
Vivek Murphy, who was nominated to take over his former position as general surgeon by the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenTrump signs the bill that extends government funding for 24 hours, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that there is still no evidence that the new COVID-19 strain is more deadly than previous iterations.
“This news from the UK seems to be about a new strain of virus that is more transmissible, more contagious than the virus we’ve seen before,” he said. “Although it appears to be more communicable, we do not yet have evidence that it is a more deadly virus for a person who acquires it.”