New variant of Covid-19 detected in UK


[ad_1]

A new variant of Covid-19 is under investigation in the UK – with 16 confirmed cases so far – Public Health England has announced.

The variant, known as B.1.621, was named a variant under investigation on Wednesday.

PHE is currently analyzing the new strain of the deadly virus responsible for the global health crisis, but pointed out that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the new variant makes vaccines less effective or causes more serious illness.

Experts are performing tests to better understand the impact of the latest coronavirus mutation.

Public Health England said in a statement: “Sixteen confirmed cases of B.1.621 have been identified across the country to date, and the majority have been linked to overseas travel.

“There is currently no evidence of community transmission in the UK.

“There is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease or makes currently deployed vaccines less effective.

“PHE is performing laboratory tests to better understand the impact of mutations on the behavior of the virus.”

It comes as PHE released new data showing that cases of the Delta variant have increased by 33,716 since last week, bringing the total to 286,765.

The variant now accounts for 99% of all cases in the UK.

As of 9 a.m. as of Friday, there had been 36,389 other laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK, the government said.

As of Friday, 64 more people had died within 28 days after testing positive for Covid-19.

This brings the UK total to 129,044.

Separate figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that there have been 154,000 recorded deaths in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The latest government data up to July 22 shows that of the 83,239,491 Covid injections administered in the UK, 46,476,845 were first doses, an increase of 43,000 the day before.

Some 36,762,646 were second doses, an increase of 174,742

[ad_2]

About Coy Lewallen

Check Also

Schools face £2.1m funding cuts in Dorset

SCHOOLS in Central Dorset and North Poole will face £2.1million in spending cuts next year …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.