New COVID variants

How UK became an early flag for dangerous COVID-19 variants

THROUGHOUT the pandemic, the United Kingdom has, at times, been an early indicator to other countries of the dangers posed by new variants.

It is where the alpha variant was first discovered, causing more than 50,000 deaths on either side of its peak in mid-January 2021 and changing the course of the pandemic.

Then the UK’s battle with the highly infectious delta strain became an early sign of how that variant would rapidly spread through other countries.

Now omicron is swiftly moving through Britain, with cases already surpassing the UK’s peak pandemic levels and setting new records.

On Friday another new infection record was set with a further 93,045 people testing positive, bringing the weekly total to 477,229 — a 38.6 percent increase on the previous seven days.

In England, cases are rising faster in London than other regions. And scientists are taking note.

So how is it that the UK came to be a red zone for COVID-19 variants to spread?

There are a few explanations.

An early success story

After a successful vaccination drive earlier this year, things were looking positive in the UK.

Scientists tracking the epidemic found increasingly strong evidence that the program was breaking the link between COVID-19 cases and deaths.

It seemed as if the UK had a window of opportunity to bring the virus under control.

But then it opened up. England became one of the first regions in Western Europe to lift almost all of its COVID-19 restrictions on 19 July.

Freedom Day marked the end of mask-wearing and social distancing requirements. Shops, museums, theme parks, bars, nightclubs and pubs all opened.

But leading scientists and government advisors from all over the world expressed their doubts.

More than 1200 scientists supported a letter to the Lancet medical journal, calling the plans “dangerous and premature”.

At a virtual summit at the time,

Professor Christina Pagel warned that there was potential for a new variant of COVID-19 to emerge.

“Any mutation that can infect vaccinated people better has a big selection advantage and can spread,” the director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London warned.

Months later, omicron arrived on the UK’s doorstop.

A gateway to the world

Being an island has been a clear advantage for other countries during the pandemic, but the UK has proved an exception. One factor above all helps explain why.

“It’s a global travel hub and there’s lots of people that fly in and out,” Clarke, told the ABC.