New Covid strain found in several countries

Mutation likely to become dominant global variety as cases detected in Italy, Denmark and Australia

‘We shouldn’t beat ourselves up about this evolving here. The fact is we’ve identified it and got the attention of the WHO in quick time’

CASES of the new coronavirus variant first identified in Britain were detected around the world yesterday, from Italy and Gibraltar to Denmark and Australia.

The mutated virus is likely to become the dominant global strain of Covid-19, a British scientist has warned.

Calum Semple, professor of outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool and a member of the Scientific Advisory

Group for Emergencies (Sage), said the new strain’s rate of infection was much faster than previous variants.

“Because the virus has the evolutionary advantage in transmitting more quickly, it will out-compete all the other strains. As immunity comes into the community more widely, then you’ll start to see more pressure on the virus and you’re more likely to see other escapes of other variations,” he said.

Britain leads the world in identifying and understanding how diseases behave, Prof Semple added.

“We shouldn’t beat ourselves up about this evolving here. The fact is we’ve identified it, we’ve brought it to national attention, we’ve got the attention of the politicians and the World Health Organisation in very quick time.”

Australian authorities reported two cases of the fast-spreading new strain in New South Wales, the country’s most populous state.

The cases were detected among people returning from Britain, officials said.

“We’ve had a couple of Uk-returned travellers with the particular mutations,” said Kerry Chant, chief health officer for New South Wales.

Australia is not yet considering suspending flights with Britain.

“Everyone coming from the UK is going into 14 days of hotel quarantine and they are of no risk as that quarantine works so successfully,” said Paul Kelly, Australia’s chief medical officer.

At least one case of the rapidly spreading variant was detected in Gibraltar. Spain said it would step up controls at the border with the British territory. In Italy, a doctor who flew to Rome from the UK on Sunday was found to be suffering from the new strain. The doctor is in isolation but is reported to have mild symptoms.

Cases of the strain were identified in the Netherlands earlier this month and it has also been detected in Iceland.

Sweden took the unprecedented step of closing its borders to Denmark. The decision was taken after the Danish government reported nine cases of the new variant last week.

It is the first time since the pandemic started early this year that Sweden has closed its borders to a neighbouring country.

The ban, which takes effect from today is expected to remain in place for about a month. The travel ban was also intended to stop Danes from travelling to Sweden for Christmas shopping, after shopping centres in Denmark were closed.

Scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom.

“Britain is simply the country which finds these mutations the most because they are looking for them more. There are countries that hardly search or do not search at all,” Marc Van Ranst, a virologist from the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium, told Belgian broadcaster VRT.

“I think we will find in the coming days that a lot of other countries will find it.”