(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The new strain may already be in the US undetected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
No cases of it have yet been identified, the CDC reported, but viruses have been sequenced from only about 51,000 of the 17 million US cases.
Travel between the two countries and the prevalence of the new strain in the UK boost the chance it is already in the US, the CDC reported.
Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said on Monday that it would take weeks to determine scientifically if the strain is more transmissible but that it didn’t appear to be any more dangerous.
Al Jazeera (Катар): новый штамм коронавируса Почему в мире началась паника? Эффективны ли вакцины?
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Covid-19 update: 9,501 new cases bring SA s total to 940,212 – The Citizen
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EU starts to ease bans over UK virus strain; WHO to meet
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LONDON, Dec 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Europe on Wednesday began lifting travel bans on Britain put in place to contain a new fast-spreading Covid strain while WHO experts were set to meet on a response to it.
Meanwhile, in the United States, President Donald Trump rejected a massive Covid economic relief package passed by Congress, branding it “a disgrace” as millions of Americans are suffering fallout from the pandemic.
There was however positive news in Australia, where Sydney eased lockdown restrictions for Christmas after the country’s largest city reported a second day of new cases in the single digits.
WHO Europe to convene members over new virus variant
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COPENHAGEN, Dec 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The World Health Organization in Europe said Tuesday it would convene its members to discuss how to handle a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in the UK.
Hans Kluge, WHO’s regional director for Europe said on Twitter that the organisation was closely monitoring the spread of the new variant and would “convene member states to discuss strategies for testing, reducing transmission & communicating risks.”
A WHO Europe spokeswoman said the meeting would take place Wednesday at 10am (0900 GMT).
“This will be a closed, expert meeting, not a planning meeting, and is an opportunity for UK health authorities to provide an update on the situation and take associated questions,” the spokeswoman said.