Corona virus new variant updates

New COVID strain Updates: India has also suspended flights from Britain until December 31 amid growing concerns over the new coronavirus variant spreading there.

New COVID strain LIVE Updates: Many countries around the world are restricting travel from Britain and elsewhere amid concerns about new strains of the coronavirus. The restrictions focus mainly on Britain, which has imposed strict new lockdown measures because of what it described as the unusually rapid spread of a new strain there. A few other European countries have confirmed cases of the viru

s variant, and another strain considered especially infectious has been identified in South Africa. India hs also suspended flights from Britain until December 31. Today is the 273rd day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. So far, India has recorded 1,00,75,116 (over 1 crore) confirmed COVID- 19 cases, including 1,46,111 deaths. A total of 96,36,487 patients have recovered or been discharged, as per the latest data from the Union Health Ministry. India's recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 95.65 percent. However, there are 2,92,518 active cases in the country, which comprise 2.9 percent of the total caseload. Globally, more than 7.73 crore people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 17.01 lakh have died so far, as per data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

What is the variant like?

The variant was identified in genomic surveillance by COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK), a consortium that analyses genome sequencing data from the UK. COG-UK is the largest contributor to the global Covid-19 database GISAID.

The variant is the result of multiple mutations in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as mutations in other genomic regions of the RNA virus. Preliminary analysis suggests that it is more transmissible than previously circulating variants. COG-UK identified one of these mutations as “N501Y”, in an area of the spike protein that binds to a key protein in the human cell, the ACE2 receptor. This was an indication that the alterations may, theoretically, result in the virus becoming more infectious. “Efforts are underway to confirm whether or not any of these mutations are contributing to increased transmission,” the consortium.

PHE has said it does not know yet the mechanism for this increase in transmission. “We know that mutations in the spike protein, the part of the virus that makes it infectious, can change how the virus interacts with human cells,” it said.

It said the evidence shows that infection rates in geographical areas where this particular strain has been circulating have increased faster than expected, and the modelling evidence has demonstrated that this variant has a higher transmission rate than other variants in current circulation.

new coronavirus, new coronavirus strain, new coronavirus strain in uk, uk new coronavirus strain, new coronavirus news, new coronavirus symptoms, uk coronavirus new strain, uk coronavirus new strain news New coronavirus strain in UK: A police officer directs traffic at the entrance to the closed ferry terminal in Dover, England, Monday, after the Port of Dover was closed.

How much of a concern is the higher transmissibility?

On December 18, New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), which advises the UK government on the threat posed by new and emerging respiratory viruses, said the new variant could potentially ramp up the reproduction number of the disease by up to 0.93. It said it has “moderate confidence” that the new variant “demonstrates a substantial increase in transmissibility compared to other variants”.

The expert body, however, concluded that there is “currently insufficient data to draw any conclusion” on the underlying mechanism of increased transmissibility”, the age distribution of cases and disease severity. It has said 4 deaths in around 1,000 cases have been identified, but “further work is needed to compare this fatality rate with comparable data sets”.

“The location of the mutations in the receptor-binding domain of the spike glycoprotein raises the possibility that this variant is antigenically distinct from prior variants. Four probable reinfections have been identified amongst 915 subjects with this variant but further work is needed to compare this reinfection rate with comparable data sets,” it said.

On Sunday, a threat assessment brief published by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said phylogenetic analysis reveals that the “cluster differs by 29 nucleotide substitutions from the original Wuhan strain”. “Three sequences from Denmark and one from Australia, from samples collected in November 2020, cluster with the UK variant, most likely indicating that international spread has occurred, although the extent remains unknown,” it said.

CREDITS: