London, England.
British Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, announced on Wednesday that a second variant of “even more contagious” coronavirus that strain which was reported last week.
This version of SARS-CoV-2, related to people who traveled to UK in South Africa, is “very worrying” and appears to contain more mutations than the one that began to spread rapidly in southern England.
Before this strain appeared, The British Government iputs “immediate” restrictions on travel in South Africa and strict quarantine persons who have returned from that country in the last two weeks.
Two new strains of the virus
So far, UK identified two cases of this new stem on their territory, both to individuals close to the people who had traveled in recent weeks.
“We are incredibly grateful Government of South Africa for its scientific rigor and for openness and transparency with which they acted when the new variant was discovered here, “Hancock told a news conference.
The Minister announced at the same time that more England andwill enter in the coming days at the maximum level of pandemic restrictions, before the expansion in the last days of strain reported last week seems to be transmitting faster than virus versions known so far.
Following the detection of that alternative, over fifty countries have limited travel from UK.
According to the latest official figures, infective on the British territory they increased by 61.2% in the last seven days, compared to the previous seven.
Into the England, there are already 17,709 entries with covid, getting closer to the 18,974 hospitalized, who were reached at the top the first wave of the pandemic, on April 12.
See: Europe is reopening in the UK as the WHO studies a new strain
“These Christmas and the beginning of 2021 will be a hard period. The new variant makes everything much more difficult because spread a lot faster. But we must not give up, we know we can control this virus“Said the Minister of Health.
Hancock also reported that the UK regulator has already received the information needed to review the approval. vaccine developed by Oxford University and pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca.
” vaccine It is our way out of all this. Despite how hard it is Christmas and Winter, We know that the transforming power of science helps us find one Camino“, he handled. EFE