Scientists dispute Boris Johnson on lethality of new British strain

The British health experts they expressed this Saturday, January 23 their “surprise“for the remarks made yesterday by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, which implied that the A new strain of coronavirus discovered in the UK could be more deadly. The scientists they went out Deny this statement since there is no proof.

The English director of public health, Yvonne doyleexplained to the channel BBC again “not absolutely clear” this variant found in the south of the island is more deadly. “There is evidence,” he admitted, but clarified that “it’s still too early as if to ensure something ”.

Member of the British Government Expert Panel (SAGE), Mike Tildesley, agreed with his colleague and confessed that Johnson’s announcement “surprised” him, according to statements reproduced by the news agency Europa Press.

UK warns new strain of Covid-19 is deadlier

“I would have liked to wait a week or two more, and monitor the situation a little more before drawing really solid conclusions“, did he declare.

Tildesley admitted that it was true that the number of deaths had increased slightly, 10 to approximately 13 per 1,000 patients, as advised by the Prime Minister. However, the expert also specified that this estimate is based “on a relatively small amount of data“.

“He seems to be some clues that the new variant, the one identified for the first time in London and south-east of England, may be associated with higher mortalityJohnson said at a press conference yesterday.

Other experts have defended this claim, such as the Prime Minister’s chief scientific adviser, Peter Horby: “If the information had not been disclosed, the government could have been accused of withholding it“.

New British strain said to affect young people more

Horby said there were indications that the the tension is slightly more lethal, but clarified that the Risk of death he was always “very very small“for most people.

he United Kingdom, country most affected in Europe by the pandemic, with more than 97,000 dead, faces a new wave of infections since the discovery in December of a coronavirus mutation 50% to 70% more contagious.

It is also the most vaccinated European nation, with nearly 6 million people who received the first dose from of Pfizer-BioNTech o la by AstraZeneca-Oxford, both effective against this new strain according to scientific data.

EuDr