What we know about the NEW coronavirus strain – and how much you need to worry about – RT World News

Ireland confirmed the presence of a new highly infectious coronavirus strain on Friday, while authorities in Lebanon and Japan also recorded the first cases attributed to this variant. In continental Europe, Germany and Denmark confirmed the presence of the strain earlier this week, joining the Netherlands and Italy.

Little is known about the new strain – which has the attractive name ‘SARS-CoV-2 VOC 202012/01’. But while it certainly poses a problem, it doesn’t seem as apocalyptic as some media outlets have.

Where did it come from?

The new strain is believed to have originated in the United Kingdom and was first detected there in September. It spread quickly and test data from UK laboratories shows that in certain areas, it now accounts for more than two-thirds of all Covid-19 cases.

The rapid spread of the new variety has led British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose severe restrictions in large areas of the country, effectively canceling Christmas for millions of Londoners and others in the southeast. More than 50 countries have banned travel to and from the UK, but with virologists predicting an increase in discoveries in new countries in the coming days, the EU has asked its members to lift restrictions on travel to the UK.

What’s new in that?

The main factor that differentiates the new strain from its predecessor is its infectivity. While it is difficult to determine exactly how much more transmissible it is, PM Johnson has repeatedly stated that the strain is 70 percent more infectious than the existing strain, apparently citing doctors from Imperial College London and the New Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group itself. and Emerging (NERVTAG).

With the government reporting such sinister figures, the media collapsed. The Sun described the new strain as a “nightmare before Christmas,” while Metro called “Mutant Covid.” Even the most restrained Financial Times said that scientists are “Alarmed” in the spread of “Covid mutant.”

However, the evidence of greater transmissibility is still scarce, and some dissident doctors think there is no evidence that the new strain is spreading faster. “We saw no evidence to support that claim,” Microbiology professor Hugh Pennington told Scottish Sun this week. Others, including German virologist Christian Drosten, said there was still insufficient data to conclude whether the new strain was indeed more transmissible.

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Some specific claims about the new strain have also emerged, for example, that it is more easily transmitted among children. Professor Neil Ferguson of NERVTAG made that statement earlier this week, but added that “More research would need to be done on the subject before any conclusions can be drawn.”

What threat does this pose?

Superficially, the idea of ​​a mutant virus can cause alarm. However, the coronavirus variant prevalent before this new strain was itself a mutation of the original pathogen that emerged in Wuhan, China, a year ago. Upon arriving in Europe in February, the virus mutated in a strain known as ‘D614G’, which then became the dominant strain worldwide. Another strain, A222V, burst in Spain shortly after and now accounts for up to 7% of samples in Europe.

When the ‘D614G’ appeared, scientists warned it could be nine times more contagious than the Wuhan strain. Fortunately, this warning has never been proven to be the case.

All viruses mutate, usually becoming milder. World Health Organization emergency chief Mike Ryan said in a virtual briefing this week that such mutations are “A normal part of the evolution of the virus”.

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At the moment, there is no evidence that the new variant is more deadly than the existing one. The UK, for example, reported just over 39,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, more than five times more than on the worst day of the first wave in April. However, 574 deaths were reported, about half the deaths over several days in April.

Will vaccines protect against this?

At the moment, the consensus says yes. However, if the virus continues to mutate, there is a danger that it will learn to escape the three vaccines currently available in the west. The flu virus mutates so regularly that new flu vaccines are launched every year to contain the latest adaptations of the virus.

So far, the coronavirus has not mutated quickly enough to raise concerns about the vaccine’s effectiveness. Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna are currently testing their vaccines against the new strain, while German company BioNTech, which developed a vaccine together with Pfizer, said this week that a new formula could be prepared in six weeks, if necessary.

However, the virus could theoretically continue to mutate and stay one step ahead of vaccine developers. “This virus is potentially on a path to escape the vaccine, it has taken the first steps in that direction,” Cambridge University professor Ravi Gupta told the BBC. “If we let more mutations be added, you start to worry.”

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Even with the threat of new mutations, however, UK scientists are testing an experimental cocktail of antibodies that they say could prevent anyone exposed to the coronavirus from developing Covid-19. Developed by University College London Hospitals and the Swedish-British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the treatment promises to give instant immunity to anyone exposed to the pathogen. Vaccines, on the other hand, can take up to a month to confer full immunity.

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