New Covid strain spreads FASTER than old mutation – and scientists are baffled by where it came from
16 Dec 2020, 10:09
Updated: 16 Dec 2020, 16:46
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THE new Covid strain is spreading faster than the most dominant one in the UK, scientists say.
An earlier variant imported by holidaymakers from Spain in the summer soon became the most prolific in Britain.
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A new strain of Covid is spreading faster than the dominant one imported from Spain (stock of virus)Credit: Alamy
But the newest variant, called VUI – 202012/01, has the potential to overtake the Spanish one, named 20A.EU1.
It was first identified in September, according to scientists at COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), who have been working with Public Health England (PHE).
It is growing faster than the now-dominant strain did in the summer, they said
And it s spreading faster than any other strain in the UK at the moment
Variant likely emerged in England because little trace anywhere else in world
The new strain of coronavirus revealed by Matt Hancock yesterday has spread to Scotland and Wales after emerging in South East England, scientists say.
Members of the UK s Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) warned today that it appears to be spreading faster than the dominant strain, which was imported by holidaymakers from Spain in the summer and now accounts for the majority of infections.
Scientists behind the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in the UK would not be drawn on whether they knew Matt Hancock was going to announce its detection.
On Monday, the Health Secretary unexpectedly told the House of Commons a new strain of the virus had been discovered.
He said the numbers of the new variant of coronavirus “are increasing rapidly”, adding that initial analysis suggested it was growing faster than the existing variants.
However, researchers working on detecting changes to the virus did not confirm whether they knew the announcement was coming.
What is the new #SARSCoV2 variant associated with a lineage spreading rapidly in the South East of England? Read our latest post to learn more and stay tuned as we provide updates as investigations proceed https://t.co/7kRhK6Hok7pic.twitter.com/9ASjzvTCGU
Scientists behind the discovery of a new coronavirus variant in the UK would not be drawn on whether they knew Matt Hancock was going to announce its detection.
On Monday, the Health Secretary unexpectedly told the House of Commons a new strain of the virus had been discovered.
He said the numbers of the new variant of coronavirus “are increasing rapidly”, adding that initial analysis suggested it was growing faster than the existing variants.
However, researchers working on detecting changes to the virus did not confirm whether they knew the announcement was coming.
What is the new #SARSCoV2 variant associated with a lineage spreading rapidly in the South East of England? Read our latest post to learn more and stay tuned as we provide updates as investigations proceed https://t.co/7kRhK6Hok7pic.twitter.com/9ASjzvTCGU
Dr Justin O Grady
Published:
5:30 PM December 15, 2020
Scientists in Norwich are researching and tracking the Covid variant. Stock image.
- Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
The Health Secretary’s announcement in the House of Commons about a “new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the fastest spread in the south-east of England” needs to be considered in context.
All RNA viruses mutate. As a virus makes copies of itself, occasionally a random change happens that propagates, sometimes the change or mutation is significant but often it’s not. We can expect a virus to mutate.
With SARS-CoV-2 these mutations happen at a rate of around one to two mutations per month and, as a result of this on-going process, many thousands of mutations have already arisen in the SARS-CoV-2 genome since the virus first emerged in 2019.