United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said some evidence suggested that the new strain of the coronavirus first discovered...
United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday said some evidence suggested that the new strain of the coronavirus first discovered in the country could be more deadly and transmissible, reported AFP.
“In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant... may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” Johnson said at a news conference.
The prime minister, however, also said that both the coronavirus vaccines being used in Britain are effective against the old as well as the new variant.
The news came as the country witnessed a record number of deaths because of the coronavirus, following a surge in cases and hospitalisations since the variant was first identified in southeast England in September. The country has so far reported 35,53,773 Covid-19 infections and 94,765 fatalities, according to the John Hopkins University data.
The toll because of the infection has risen by 16% in the UK, while the number of those affected being hospitalised has almost doubled in comparison to the first wave of the pandemic in April.
Chief government scientist Patrick Vallance said the variant could be 30%-40% more deadly for some age groups, but he stressed that the assessment was based on sparse data. “There’s a lot of uncertainty...
