December 19, 2020, 21:41 | Updated: December 19, 2020, 9:45 p.m.
A new strain of coronavirus is behind the growing infections in the UK.
Image: Getty
A new variant of coronavirus has crossed London and the south-east and is spreading faster than the original strain.
The chief scientific adviser to the government, Sir Patrick Vallance, warned that the new Covid the variant became the dominant strain following a rapid increase in cases in recent days.
Next to him, at Saturday’s press conference in Downing Street, was England’s chief physician, Professor Chris Whitty, who said the new variant could spread faster.
Its rapid transmission through the region led to London, the south-east and parts of eastern England, plunged into the new Level 4 restrictions on Sunday morning.
So what is the new mutant form of coronavirus? Where is the new variant prevalent? And are there different symptoms?
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What is the new strain of coronavirus?
The new strain is a mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK.
It was named VUI-202012/01, the first variant being investigated by Public Health England (PHE) in December.
Currently, there are approximately 4,000 mutations in the spike protein gene.
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Is the new Covid variant more deadly or more dangerous?
Although the new variant is spreading faster and therefore more difficult to control, there is currently no suggestion that it is more fatal or causes more severe symptoms.
Also, there have already been various mutations in Covid-19 that have entered communities without real consequences.
However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that early analysis showed that the new strain could increase the reproduction rate by 0.4 or more and that it could be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the old variant.
Sir Patrick confirmed this, saying the variant had a “significant increase in transmissibility”.
New strains are not always a bad thing and could be even less virulent, but if it spreads faster and has the same severity, then more people will get sick in a shorter period of time.
Will the vaccines work against the new strain?
Prof Whitty said there is no current evidence to suggest that the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments.
However, he said that “urgent work” is being done to confirm this and warned that it is “more vital than ever” for people to continue to take steps to reduce the spread of the virus.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said that the latest clinical advice is that the mutation is unlikely to respond to a vaccine because it produces antibodies against many regions of the spike protein.
But PHE said that this new variant includes a mutation in the spike protein and that this can lead to the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily among humans.
Where is the new variant prevalent?
PHE said that as of December 13, 1,108 cases of this new variant had been identified, predominantly in London and the south-east of England.
Sir Patrick said that by December, more than 60 per cent of the capital’s infections had been confirmed as the new option, saying: “It is moving fast and becoming the dominant option”.
Prof Whitty added that there is a risk that the option “will come out in other areas of the country where it is not currently a problem”.
However, he said measures such as social distancing and contact limitation would help prevent its spread to the UK.
What are the symptoms of the new variant?
Prof Whitty said there was nothing to indicate that the new mutation was causing various symptoms of the original strain.
He also said that testing for it remains the same and that the clinical outcome is no different for this variant.
The NHS has also confirmed that the new strain produces the same symptoms, which means that people will continue to experience high temperature, persistent cough, loss of taste and smell or any combination of the above.
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