New strain up to nine times more infectious — scientists

Covid-19 has thrown another spiked curveball at the human population, this time in the form of a new strain that spreads far more quickly than the previous one.

According to a study published in life sciences journal Cell, it is no deadlier than the earlier strain, but spreads three to nine times faster.

The researchers, led by theoretical biologist Bette Korber, of the US’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, went public on

CNN recently, warning that the new strain (called G614) is “now the dominant form infecting people”.

“Our global tracking data show that the G614 variant ... has spread faster than D614 [its predecessor],” the scientists said, adding that it was “fitter”, but not deadlier.

To date, there is no confirmed data on which strain is more dominant in SA or other countries on the continent, but hospitals in the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape are experiencing a surge as new cases sometimes shoot past 10,000 a day.

At the beginning of March, according to the global study, the new strain was uncommon outside European countries, but by the end of that month, it had jumped to countries across the globe, most notably the US.

They found that when D614 caused widespread epidemics (in Wales and Nottingham, for example), G614 soon took over.

“The increase in G614 frequency often continues well after stay-at-home orders are in place and past the subsequent two-week incubation period,” the researchers said.

According to La Jolla Institute for Immunology in California researcher Erica Saphire, “this is now the virus”.

She said evidence showed it was more infectious, yet there was no proof of a greater effect on the severity of the disease.

The reason it is more infectious is because it multiplies in the upper respiratory tract (nose, throat and sinuses) before it moves down, like its predecessor, into the lower tracts.

The team released data earlier this year, suggesting the virus had mutated.

This became a starting point to keep track of which strain was more widespread.

The researchers have since worked frantically to build on their research as the pandemic intensifies across the globe.

The virus that causes Covid19 has a spike protein, a structure that enables it to “break into” the healthy cells in our bodies. Researchers are looking at whether the newer strain’s structure will affect the potency of vaccines being tested and developed across the world, including in SA.

“There are potential consequences for the vaccines.

“We are actively investigating those possible consequences,” they said, adding that they remained vigilant to track any other mutations that form, because these might be deadlier than the previous ones.