[ad_1]
The UK has detected two cases of another new variant of the coronavirus, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
The cases in London and north-west England are contacts of people who traveled to South Africa, where the variant was discovered.
Travel restrictions with South Africa have been imposed.
Anyone who has been there in the past fortnight, and anyone with whom they have been in contact, are told to quarantine immediately.
There is growing concern about this variant in South Africa, where Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has warned that “the previously healthy young people are now getting very sick”.
He said the country “cannot go through what we went through in the early days of the AIDS pandemic”.
The variant is still being analyzed, but the data is consistent with its faster release.
It was first detected in the UK on Tuesday.
“ Explosive outbreaks ”
This variant shares some similarities with the one that has already been detected in the UK, although they have evolved separately.
Both have a mutation – called N501Y – which is in a crucial part of the virus that it uses to infect cells in the body.
Professor Neil Ferguson, Imperial College London, said: “I think our biggest concern right now is South Africa.
“There are certainly anecdotal reports of explosive epidemics for this virus and very large increases in the number of cases.”
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said the new variant was “of great concern” and that anyone called upon to quarantine should avoid “contact with any other person”.
At the same briefing, he announced that millions more would be transferred to Level 4 on Boxing Day in a bid to control the virus.
Source: BBC
| Warning: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no legal or other responsibility for the accuracy of their content. Please report any inappropriate content to us and we will assess it as a priority. |
Featured Video
Source link
