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The U.K. Coronavirus Mutation Explained
The United Kingdom is dealing with a new crisis amid the ongoing pandemic. Public health officials have discovered a new variant of the coronavirus, which has put the entire continent of Europe on high alert. While scientists are still studying the variant, it could be as much as 70% more transmissible than the novel coronavirus. However, there doesn’t seem to be an increased risk of serious illness from it.
European nations are shutting down travel to and from the U.K. in hopes of sealing off the new variant, so it doesn’t spread to other parts of the world. As frightening as this new development may sound, it’s important to remember that viruses often mutate over time.
Here’s what is known about the situation.
What’s concerning about the recent strain found in England
Health experts in the UK and US said the strain seems to infect more easily than others, but there is no evidence yet it is more deadly.
Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said that the strain “moves fast and is becoming the dominant variant,” causing over 60% of infections in London by December.
The strain is also concerning because it has so many mutations nearly two dozen and some are on the spiky protein that the virus uses to attach to and infect cells. That spike is what current vaccines target.
Here’s what is known about the situation.
WHAT’S CONCERNING ABOUT THE RECENT STRAIN FOUND IN ENGLAND?
Health experts in the U.K. and U.S. said the strain seems to infect more easily than others, but there is no evidence yet it is more deadly.
Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said that the strain “moves fast and is becoming the dominant variant,” causing over 60% of infections in London by December.
The strain is also concerning because it has so many mutations – nearly two dozen – and some are on the spiky protein that the virus uses to attach to and infect cells. That spike is what current vaccines target.
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 Britain.
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.
The changes in the coronavirus’s RNA were detailed in a report by British researchers who use time-stamped genetic sequences of the virus to track the pandemic’s progress. The COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium said the “unexpectedly large” number of changes, and their potential influence on key parts of the virus, require “urgent laboratory characterisation and enhanced genomic surveillance worldwide.”