Canada and India have just added their names to the growing list of countries that are banning travelers from the UK. The travel bans are in reaction to a new variant strain of COVID-19 that is much more infectious.
It is estimated to be up to 70% more infectious than the regular strain. Since the discovery of the new strain, infections in London have nearly doubled.
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The new strain is not thought to be more dangerous.
However, its ability to spread rapidly makes it more dangerous. In response, London has gone into a Tier 4 lockdown. Unfortunately, the announcement led to people leaving London en mass before the new restrictions went into effect.
The Mayor of London has condemned these actions. There is growing concern that the new mutation will spread to other countries. It has already surfaced in Denmark and Australia.
The new variant was discovered in September.
By December, it was the most common COVID-19 virus in London. Currently, there is no indication that it has mutated enough to make the vaccine ineffective. The UK has already begun administering the vaccine, but it will take time to vaccinate the population.
Meanwhile, the virulence of the new strain makes it harder to flatten the curve, which is cause for concern. Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, has said that the new variant is “out of control.”
This isn’t the first time the virus has mutated.
The virus that was first detected in China is not the one that you will find worldwide. The first known mutation occurred in February in Europe. It is dubbed the D614G mutation.
That variant became the dominant form of the virus. Later, another variant mutated in Spain. It was called A222V and was localized to Europe. However, the new variant is much more mutated than the previous variants.
The situation is constantly developing.
There is a growing concern in the UK over the new restrictions. The message to the public has been to not panic. The country has made plans for such a contingency and does not expect supply to the country to be disrupted.
As of now, 500,000 people in the UK have had their first vaccination. The vaccines are being given to the most vulnerable. As of now, they are not targetting areas known to have high levels of the new variant virus.
Stay local.
The best way to stop the spread of the virus, or any new varients, is to stay put. The message to stay put is more important when a new variant is discovered. At this point, not all parts of the UK are seeing high levels of the new variant. Although countries are acting to stop it from spreading outside of the UK, within the UK they are working to limit the spread. It is not impossible to see more variants to mutate, so we all must remain vigilant!
