Covid variant - Central News Hub

New Covid variant found in Britain

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 situation in the country worsened in the last few weeks which has been attributed to the Delta variant of the virus…reports Asian Lite News.

A new strain of coronavirus has been identified by Public Health England after 16 confirmed cases have been found in the UK.

This has been designated as a variant under investigation on Wednesday, The Independent has reported. The variant is known as B.1.621.

The authorities have clarified that not much has been known about this variant and there is no evidence to suggest that it might make vaccines less effective or lead to more severe illness so that the new strain does not spread fears among people, according to a report from the Hindustan Times.

The B.1.621 variant of SARS-CoV-2 might be a new variant in the United Kingdom, but this is not new in the world, In January, the variant was first identified in Colombia.

“Most of the cases have been linked to overseas travel and there is currently no evidence of community transmission in the UK,” the Independent reported.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 situation in the country worsened in the last few weeks which has been attributed to the Delta variant of the virus. Despite the surge in the cases, Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in the UK this week. On Saturday, Britain reported 31,794 coronavirus cases.

Reports said the R rate of coronavirus in the UK is around 1.2 and 1.4 which means one infected person can spread the infection to more than one person. The infection rate in private households of England has also been the highest since January.

Meanwhile, as many as six people were arrested and four police officers were injured during anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protest in Central London on Saturday, the Metropolitan Police has said.

“The mostly peaceful demonstrations in Central London have finished. My thanks to the crowds who engaged with us and my colleagues for their hard work. There were 6 arrests for a range of offences and unacceptably 4 officers injured. I wish them a speedy recovery,” Commander Catherine Roper, the Metropolitan Police crime prevention, inclusion and engagement lead, said.

Earlier, the officer had informed that one demonstrator was arrested after throwing a bottle at police officers outside Downing Street.

“A demonstrator has been arrested outside Downing Street after throwing a bottle at police officers. Violence will not be tolerated. We encourage the remaining crowd to continue their demonstration peacefully,” she tweeted.

Police were also seen engaging with crowds in Parliament Square, who were causing a disruption.

This comes as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in the UK on Monday. However, authorities still recommend wearing face masks and using the NHS Covid-Pass. On Saturday, scores of people gathered in central London to protest against vaccination and the coronavirus pass.

Britain has reported another 31,795 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, according to the government figures released on Saturday. (with inputs from ANI)

ALSO READ-UK expert urges caution over B.1.617 variant

UK lockdown easing at risk over variant threat

The health authorities have reduced the wait between Covid-19 jabs from 12 weeks to eight for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable over the new variant threat prevailing in the country, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the Indian Covid variant could pose “serious disruption” to lockdown easing in England on 21 June.

Johnson said if it was found to be “significantly” more transmissible there could be “some hard choices”, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, the health authorities have cut short the wait between jabs from 12 weeks to eight for the over-50s and clinically vulnerable over the new variant threat prevailing in the country.

Also Read – Pfizer-BioNTech vax very effective against UK, SA variants’

According to Public Health England figures, cases of the Indian Covid variant have nearly tripled in the past week.

Johnson said he did not believe that the “present evidence” showed a need to delay the next stage in the easing of lockdown in England on Monday – when pubs and restaurants will be allowed to serve customers indoors and six people or two households can meet in private home.

Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty during a press conference. (Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street)

“I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June,” BBC quoted Johnson as saying.

“But I urge everyone to exercise the greatest caution because the choices we each make in the coming days will have a material effect on the road ahead,” he added.

The 21 June reopening is depended on government’s four tests being met – including that vaccines continue to be effective and the risks are not fundamentally changed by new variants.

Also Read – EU nations urged to halt travel from India

Meanwhile, another 2,193 people have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,446,824, according to official figures released on Friday.

The country also reported another 17 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 127,668. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

A man wearing a face mask cycles past the Francis Crick Institute Vaccination Centre in London,UK , Britain, March 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan/IANS)

England’s coronavirus reproduction number, known as the R number, has increased slightly to between 0.8 and 1.1, up from between 0.8 and one last week, according to the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).

It means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between eight and 11 others, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The latest growth rate range for the pandemic in England is estimated at minus 3 per cent to 1 per cent, according to official figures.

Also Read – Bharat Biotech ready to share Covaxin formula

“This does not necessarily mean R is definitively above one and that the epidemic is increasing, but that the uncertainty means it cannot be ruled out,” said SAGE. If the R number is above one, it means the number of cases will increase exponentially.

Four people in Britain have died with the coronavirus variant first detected in India, according to official data released Friday.

These are the first known domestic deaths from the new variant of the virus, now designated a “variant of concern”.

Public Health England (PHE) said cases of the variant known as B1617.2 in Britain have more than doubled to 1,313, up from 520 cases recorded by the PHE last week.

People are seen at an NHS COVID-19 vaccination center in London, Britain, on March 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Scientists have raised concerns that the current vaccines may be less effective against the new variant, but the British Department of Health and Social Care said there was “no firm evidence yet to show this variant has any greater impact on severity of disease or evades the vaccine”.

According to the latest official figures, more than 36.1 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the US as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.