Minister Anand Singh said that Bellary has 15 people coming from UK and all measures will be taken. There is no need to worry about the new strain of COVID-19. Samples will be collected and all 15 people will be kept in quarantine. Source: Prajavani
A new variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in England and raising international alarms. This new variant now accounts for more than 60% of the cases in London. And scientists say the variant is likely more contagious than previous versions of the virus.
Health officials have closed international travel to the United Kingdom. The British government has locked down much of the country. And scientists all over the world are rushing to figure out how the virus mutated and how big a threat the new variant poses.
Facts about the new coronavirus strain
Viruses tend to evolve or mutate quickly, particularly those like flu that require new vaccines to be developed each year because of changes in key proteins.
SARS-CoV-2 also changes, although generally at a slower pace than some other viruses because it has a self-correcting mechanism that keeps its genetic sequence relatively stable
Covid-19 case rates nearly doubled in London over the past week, with almost 60% of these infections attributed to the new strain
Boris Jhonson and scientists explained, the new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective.
Emerging scientific evidence suggests the new variant can spread significantly more quickly than previous strains in circulation.
Other variants in the coronavirus have been reported in the past, including one in minks, which are susceptible to the virus.
It was feared to be highly transmissible and was reported to the World Health Organization. Although as of Nov. 20 the WHO said the most worrying strain linked to the animals is no longer circulating in humans.
