The Straits Times
Scientists are worried about these variants but not surprised by them.PHOTO: REUTERS
PublishedDec 21, 2020, 6:40 am SGT
https://str.sg/JR3A
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Let s go!
Monday, December 21st 2020, 11:47 am
By: CBS News, Associated Press
Reports from Britain and South Africa of new coronavirus strains that seem to spread more easily are causing alarm, but virus experts say it s unclear if that s the case or whether they pose any concern for vaccines or cause more severe disease.
Viruses naturally evolve as they move through the population, some more than others. It s one reason we need a fresh flu shot each year.
New variants, or strains, of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been seen almost since it was first detected in China nearly a year ago.
Explained: With Covid-19 mutating, what does that mean for us?
Like all viruses, the coronavirus is a shape-shifter. Some genetic changes are inconsequential, but some may give it an edge. Updated: December 31, 2020 1:25:42 pm
People wait on the concourse at Paddington Station in London, after the announcement that London will move into Tier 4 Covid-19 restrictions from midnight, Saturday Dec. 19, 2020. (Stefan Rousseau, PA via AP)
Written by Apoorva Mandavilli
Just as vaccines
begin to offer hope for a path out of the pandemic, officials in Britain this past weekend sounded an urgent alarm about what they called a highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus circulating in England.
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
British scientists find worrying changes in the coronavirus that put UK Christmas in jeopardy [Los Angeles Times :: BC-CORONAVIRUS-UK-MUTATION:LA]
In the United Kingdom and several other countries, a disconcerting cluster of genetic changes has been detected in the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, prompting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to all but cancel Christmas in the British Isles.
At least 1,619 samples of the virus collected from infected Britons contained a distinctive set of 17 genetic alterations, including three that appear to make the virus easier to transmit from person to person and improve its ability to sneak past the immune system’s defenses.
What you need to know about mutating coronavirus strains
Health experts say the strain infects more easily but there s no evidence that it s more deadly.
By MARILYNN MARCHIONEAssociated Press
Read Article
Reports from Britain and South Africa of new coronavirus strains that seem to spread more easily are causing alarm, but virus experts say it’s unclear if that’s the case or whether they pose any concern for vaccines or cause more severe disease.
Viruses naturally evolve as they move through the population, some more than others. It’s one reason we need a fresh flu shot each year.