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.
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Increased transmissibility is one more reason to follow non-pharmaceutical interventions
With nearly a dozen countries in Europe and elsewhere temporarily banning travel from the U.K. after a new variant of the novel coronavirus was found to be causing an increased number of new cases there, India too has followed suit flights, with some exceptions, have been temporarily suspended from Tuesday night till December 31. On Saturday, the U.K. imposed strict restrictions in greater London and much of southeast England. The variant VUI-202012/01 (the first ‘variant under investigation’ in December 2020) has 23 mutations in all. Though a few of these are seen in the region of the virus that binds to the human receptor, a single mutation N501Y has been found to increase the binding affinity, making the variant more transmissible. On December 20, the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium, which identified the variant on September 20, said the variant has been “growing in frequency
UK COVID-19 Update: Concerns Mount Over Virus Variant medscape.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medscape.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Big Concerns Over New UK Virus Strain: Is It Resistant To Vaccines? Big Concerns Over New UK Virus Strain: Is It Resistant To Vaccines? The new mutation, or variant, was first detected in southeast England in September and is quickly becoming the dominant strain in London and other regions in Britain.
Updated: December 21, 2020 11:26 am IST
UK is one of the first to point a specific coronavirus variant for surge in infections (Representational)
London:
Faced with a newly emerging coronavirus mutation with significantly faster transmission rates, Britain on Saturday announced tightened pandemic restrictions that returned London and parts of the country to virtual lockdown and reversed earlier promises for relaxed rules over the holidays.