Chris Whitti, UK Chief Medical Officer, will be on Saturday in the UK A new variant of the coronavirusAccording to Reuters, this “may spread more rapidly” than previous strains of the virus, urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to impose new restrictions on parts of the country.
London said it notified World Health Organization According to the BBC, of the findings.
“As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through genomic surveillance of the UK Public Health Service,” Whitty said in a statement. “As a result of the rapid spread of new variants, preliminary modeling data, and the rapid rise in incidence in the southeast, the New Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (NERVTAG) has announced that new strains will spread more rapidly. I think there is a possibility. “
His warning followed a meeting of representatives from four UK countries to discuss the new stock.
The UK reported approximately 24,061 new Covid-19 cases daily, based on a weekly average. This is an increase of more than 40% compared to a week ago. CNBC analysis Of the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.. The country reported 20,10,077 cases and 67,177 deaths as of Sunday.
Public health officials told the BBC that a new variant known as VUI was first seen in London and Kent in mid-September. By December, it had become the “dominant variant” of London.
“In London, data from the past week suggest that new variants account for more than 60% of new cases,” Whitty told CNBC. “That is, this new variant not only moves faster, but also improves transmission capabilities, and is becoming a major variant. It outperforms everything else when it comes to transmission.” He said.
However, Whitty added, “there is no evidence” that the new strain causes more serious illness, more hospitalizations, or “more problems than other viruses.”
At a press conference, Prime Minister Johnson said the new strain “can be transmitted up to 70% more than the old mutant,” but evidence that it is more deadly or leads to more serious illness. There was no.
According to CNBC, he announced new restrictions to contain the epidemic of the disease, so “we are learning about it as we go, but enough to make sure we have to act now. I already know that, “he added. .. “When a virus changes the way it attacks, we have to change the way it defends.”
Tighter measures have been announced in London, southeastern and eastern England. The planned relaxation of the Christmas Covid rules has also been abolished in much of southeastern England and shortened to Christmas day in other parts of England.
Johnson announces the creation of a new layer – Tier 4 – According to the Covid-19 alert system for English towns and regions Hindu Stan Times. London, which was previously in Tier 3 with strict restrictions, has been raised to Tier 4, the highest level of curb.
