The World Health Organization said on Saturday it was in close contact with UK officials over a new COVID-19 virus variant.
“They’ll (UK officials) continue to share info & results of their analysis & ongoing studies. We’ll update Member States & public as we learn more about the characteristics of this virus variant & any implications”, WHO said in a tweet.
A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday.
A new mutation in the Covid-19 virus has been uncovered, prompting fears of a faster spread in London and the south east of England. While experts have said it’s too early to tell what the potential impacts of this new strain will be, there are some things we do know. This is not likely to become ‘Covid-20’ and Health Secretary Matt Hancock has stressed there is no evidence to suggest the new strain is more likely to cause serious disease.
Earlier this year, James J. James, MD, PhD, MHA, the former director of the American Medical Association’s Center for Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response, argues that while the epidemic began as a singular virus with public health officials aiming to contain and mitigate it, this is no longer the case:
Collateral damage from social isolation and school and business closures is enormous, resulting in a domino effect of problems such as mental health struggles and stopped treatments.
Some populations, such as elderly, Black, and poor communities, are much more vulnerable to severe and lethal outcomes, and those communities require interventions far beyond what the medical community can provide.
COVID-20 is a large-scale crisis that is deeply enmeshed in social and environmental factors. Simply containing and mitigating the virus is no longer an option, nor is it likely that a potent vaccine will be provided to much of the world’s population.
James notes that infection is now so widespread that perhaps we should consider the virus to be chronic and endemic, much like HIV/AIDS, and approached as such.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Additional review – METRO, Cambridge University
