Rapid rise in cases linked to new variant
LONDON: A new variant of the novel coronavirus has been identified in the United Kingdom and could be partly linked to a rapid rise in infections, the Government has said, as authorities placed London and its surrounding areas under the country’s highest level of Covid19 restrictions.
Although there was nothing to suggest the new strain was likely to cause more serious disease or that it would not respond to a vaccine, Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday said it could be contributing to higher infection rates.
“Over the last week, we’ve seen very sharp, exponential rises in the virus across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire,” he told the House of Commons in a statement, referring to counties near the capital.
“We do not know the extent to which this is because of the new variant, but no matter its cause, we have to take swift and decisive action,” he said, announcing that the entire capital and some neighbouring areas would go into “Tier 3” restrictions from today.
More than 1000 infections with the new variant had been detected.
Michael Ryan, the chief of emergencies for the World Health Organisation (WHO), said the global health agency was aware of the new strain reported in the UK and was working with British and other health authorities to assess if the reported mutations might change how the virus was behaving.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid19, said the agency had “no evidence this variant behaves differently” and that it was similar to a variant initially reported among mink in Europe.
The UK started vaccinating people over 80 and healthcare workers on December 8. — Agencies