Mutant strain of virus could have originated abroad, say UK experts

THE new strain of coronavirus which has led many countries to halt travel from Britain might have originated abroad, experts said yesterday.

They said mutated strains are potentially occurring across the globe but are going unnoticed because of a lack of surveillance.

It emerged yesterday that scientists in Wales have sequenced more viruses in the past week than France has examined throughout the entire crisis.

The strain first spotted in Kent in September could have been introduced here from another country, according to members of the Covid-19 Genomics UK

Consortium, which helped to identify the new variant.

Professor Sharon Peacock, director of COG-UK and a Cambridge university professor, said: ‘We simply don’t know whether it was introduced or whether it occurred in the UK.’

Cardiff University professor Tom Connor, who is also in the consortium, said: ‘In the last week, Public Health Wales has sequenced more viruses than the whole of France in the whole of the pandemic so far.’ He added: ‘It is probable that similar variants are popping up around the world ... and which would be completely unregarded because there’s no sequencing in place.’

Yesterday Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious diseases expert, said the strain ‘very well might be here for all we know’.

US officials are considering a ban on flights from Britain.

The speculation over the new strain came as Antarctica recorded its first cases of Covid-19 after 26 Chilean soldiers and 10 contractors tested positive on Monday. The outbreak has been traced to a navy ship which delivered supplies to the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme base from Chile on November 27.

All tourist traffic to Antarct i ca has been cancelled throughout the pandemic and contact between about 70 research stations banned, hindering collaborative work.