UK : England CMO Professor Chris Whitty - New COVID Strain Is Considered More Transmissible

 

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Five days ago the UK Health Secretary Announced A New COVID Variant had been detected in Southern England, and while there was no evidence that it caused more serious disease than its predecessors, there were concerns it might be more transmissible. 

COG-UK described this variant:

This variant carries a set of mutations including an N501Y mutation in the receptor binding motif of the Spike protein that the virus uses to bind to the human ACE2 receptor.

Efforts are under way to confirm whether or not any of these mutations are contributing to increased transmission. There is currently no evidence that this variant (or any other studied to date) has any impact on disease severity, or that it will render vaccines less effective, although both questions require further studies performed at pace. We will provide further updates as our investigations proceed.

Since then we've also learned that this SARS-CoV-2 variant has been detected in Scotland, Wales, and in Denmark, but very little more has been announced.  

Today, however, England's Chief Medical officer Professor Chris Whitty issued the following statement confirming this new variant spreads faster than earlier strains and urging the public to continue their efforts to reduce disease transmission. 

Statement from Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty about new strain of Covid-19

New strain of Covid-19 reported to World Health Organisation

Published 19 December 2020

From:Department of Health and Social Care

Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty said:

• As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance.

• As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.

• We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding.

• There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is underway to confirm this.

• Given this latest development it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission.

While concerning, it is too soon to know how this variant (and others likely to emerge in the weeks and months ahead) will impact the course of the pandemic. 

But as always, we should be prepared for some surprises ahead.