Experts say Kent Covid variant will ‘sweep the world’

Strain found in county will become dominant

The variant of Covid-19 said to have originated somewhere in Kent will become the world’s dominant strain, according to a leading scientist.

The more infectious mutant strain has been detected across Britain, in more than 50 countries and “it’s going to sweep the world, in all probability”, Professor Sharon Peacock from the Covid-19 Genomics UK (Cog-UK) Consortium told the BBC’s Newscast podcast.

The new variant initially led to London and parts of southern and eastern England being rushed into Tier 4 restrictions prior to Christmas, before stricter measures were introduced throughout the UK.

Analysis of the variant, known as B117, suggests it is up to 70% more transmissible than the previous strain that was dominant in the UK.

Prof Peacock, professor of public health and microbiology at the University of Cambridge and director of the UK’s genetic surveillance programme, said transmissibility was likely to cause scientists difficulties for years to come.

“Once we get on top of it [Covid-19] or it mutates itself out of being virulent – causing disease – then we can stop worrying about it,” she said.

“But I think, looking in the future, we’re going to be doing this for years.

“We’re still going to be doing this 10 years down the line, in my view.”

Questions have been asked about whether Kent will have a problem shaking off its link to the new strain of Covid, as it spreads across the world, taking the county’s name with it.

Along with South Africa, it is increasingly becoming intrinsically linked with the pandemic.

Despite data suggesting the mutant variant may be more deadly, there is no evidence to indicate existing treatments, such as dexamethasone, will not be effective against it.

Studies suggest people infected with the UK variant are less likely to report a loss of taste and smell.

There are now four “variants of concern” of the virus that causes Covid-19 identified by government advisers. Three of these have been found in the UK, and the fourth is the Brazil variant identified in people who had travelled to Japan.

Analysis is ongoing to establish the impact of these mutations on the virus.

‘We’re still going to be doing this 10 years down the line...’