The UK government said that the British capital a new coronavirus variant emerging as a possible cause of rapidly rising infection rates.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said London, and parts of three surrounding counties, would move into the highest of three levels of restrictions in force across England. He said the World Health Organization had been notified and UK scientists were doing detailed studies. He told MPs in the House of Commons that over the last week, there had been sharp, exponential rises in coronavirus infections across London, Kent, parts of Essex and Hertfordshire. "We've currently identified over thousands of cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England, although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas.
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 which unfortunately is absolutely essential to control this deadly disease while the vaccine is rolled out." England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty said current corona virus swab tests would detect the new variant that has been found predominantly in Kent and neighbouring areas in recent weeks.
The changes or mutations involve the spike protein of the virus - the part that helps it infect cells, and the target COVID vaccines are designed around. It is too soon to know exactly what this will do with the behavior of the virus.
Prof Alan McNally, an expert at the University of Birmingham, told that "Let's not be hysterical. It doesn't mean it's more transmissible or more infectious or dangerous. "It is something to keep an eye on. "Huge efforts are ongoing at characterizing the variant and understanding its emergence. It is important to keep a calm and rational perspective on the strain as this is normal virus evolution and we expect new variants to come and go and emerge over time."
Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, said it was potentially serious. "The surveillance and research must continue and we must take the necessary steps to stay ahead of the virus." There is a simple rule for understanding all "new strain" or "new variants": Ask whether the behavior of the virus has changed.
This is crucial as viruses mutate all the time, it's just what they do. And so far we've been given the "scare" but not the "answer". Matt Hancock said the new variant of coronavirus "may be associated" with the faster spread in the south east of England.
This is not the same as saying it "is causing" the rise and Hancock did not say this virus has evolved to spread from person-to-person more readily. New strains can become more common for reasons that have nothing to do with the virus.
One explanation for the emergence of the "Spanish strain" over the summer was tourism. So at the moment there are scary headlines everywhere, but still no scientific detail to know how significant this is
