The new variant could spread more quickly, scientists say. So far, this variant discovered in the UK in mid-December has prompted several other countries to impose restrictions on travel to Britain. In addition, several other countries around the world also recorded positive cases for a new variant of the virus SARS-CoV-2.
According to the study, researchers compared 1,769 people infected with a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 with 1,769 people described as positive for the “wild type” SARS-CoV-2 virus. These two groups are arranged to correspond to each other based on basic characteristics such as age, sex, population area and time of testing.
Of the 42 hospitalized, 16 were positive for the new variant of SARS-Cov-2 while 26 were infected with the virus in the wild. In terms of mortality, there were 12 deaths related to the new variant, compared with 10 virus-related deaths in the wild.
The above study of scientists also showed that there is no significant difference between the reinfection rate in the new strain compared with other strains.
However, this report reports that the “secondary attack rate”, or exposure rate of confirmed spontaneous cases is higher in people infected with the new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
On the morning of December 29, a leading epidemiologist and government advisor – Dr. Andrew Hayward warned that, Britain is nearing “a catastrophe” in the coming weeks if it does not take strong action against the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
He recorded 53,135 new cases of Covid-19 on December 29, the highest number since the country began conducting mass testing in mid-2020.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has passed the imposition of the highest level of restrictions on certain areas of the country.