New Covid-19 strain linked to coronavirus spread in south east

Coronavirus rates across Sussex continue to dramatically increase as Tier 3 measures are announced for London.

The health secretary has said that a new variant of the disease may be linked to the spread as he revealed it has been found in almost 60 areas.

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Updating the Commons on Monday, Hancock told MPs: “Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the fastest spread in the south-east of England.

The new strain has been found in almost 60 areas

“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variance. We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant, predominantly in the south of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas and numbers are increasing rapidly.

“Similar variants have been identified in other countries over the last few months. We’ve notified the World Health Organization about this new variant and Public Health England is working hard to continue its expert analysis at Porton Down.”

He added: “I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease and the latest clinical advice is that it’s highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine. But it shows we’ve got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus.”

– Is this something unusual?

There have been many mutations in the virus since it emerged in 2019.

This is to be expected – SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus and these viruses mutate and change.

Public Health England (PHE) said that as of December 13, 1,108 cases with this new variant had been identified, predominantly in the south and east of England.

It has been named VUI – 202012/01 – the first variant under investigation in December.

– Is this something to be worried about?

Not enough is yet known about the new strain, but it is premature to make any claims about the potential impacts of virus mutation.

But if the virus spreads faster it will be harder to control.

However, there have already been various strains of Covid-19 with no real consequence.

– Is it the first novel strain detected in the UK?

A number of variants have been detected using sequencing studies in the UK.

A specific variant (the D614G variant) has previously been detected in western Europe and North America which is believed to spread more easily but not cause greater illness.

But it is thought this is the first strain that will be investigated in such detail by PHE.