New mutant strains of coronavirus
are doing the rounds and spreading in Britain and South Africa. But there is no
evidence as yet that it is more deadly than the previous strains. But has this
virus reached the USA as well and is causing the infection to spread faster? Considering
this, some nations of Europe have already implemented a stricter travel
lockdown in order to prevent the spread of this new faster-transmitting virus
strains.
501.V2-the new faster-spreading
COVID-19 strain
There is a new variant of the coronavirus
that has been detected in the UK and South Africa. It is causing a fast spread
of the virus in the population. But luckily as yet it is not more deadly.
Hence, new travel restrictions are in place in Europe in order to stop the
spread of this newer variant of the virus. Besides, the USA has also made it
mandatory for travelers from the UK to get a negative COVID-19 report before
they board a plane to the USA. |
| 501.V2 new mutant strain of coronavirus [Source: NDTV] |
The US CDC has said that as yet
the new variant has not been detected in the USA. They have been able to
sequence only 51k of the 17 million infections in the USA. On the other hand,
in the UK, there are 125k sequences done.
CDC’s take with the newer variant
emergence
Taking note of the fact that the
new variant is already spreading in the UK fast, CDC has taken immediate steps
to curb its spread to the USA. America is already under great stress with the
coronavirus infection. The Southern states are particularly affected by it.
Hence CDC said:
“Ongoing travel between the
United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high prevalence of this
variant among current UK infections, increase the likelihood of importation,”
 |
| The fast-spreading strain of coronavirus is in [Source: FT] |
Further, its statement read:
“Given the small fraction of US
infections that have been sequenced, the variant could already be in the United
States without having been detected.”
Additionally, the CDC has decided
to take steps to early detect the variant in its population. It will be getting
10 samples from each state every week from January 2021 for sequencing and its
further genetic analysis.
Will travel from areas with the new
strain be halted temporarily?
A central Florida high health
official was queried about whether there needs to be a ban applied temporarily
for travel from areas where the new strain is detected. Dr Raul Pino, with the
Florida Department of Health-Orange County replied:
“Although everyone is trying to
stop how this new strain may spread across the world, it could be already
across the world because it’s not a case that was identified yesterday ... so
this had happened,”
“So it’s safe to assume that it
has spread to some places already.”
 |
| A high number of cases due to the mutant strain of coronavirus [Source: News 18] |
Raul implied that the sequencing is
done on viruses collected from patients in the past and hence by the time the
results are in, the virus strain would have already spread more. But the good
news is that the new vaccines approved in the USA would be taking care of all
these variant strains of the virus:
“It’s also important to know that
the vaccines that are in place will continue to be effective even against them,”
Despite the vaccines, CDC
guidelines for covid-19 prevention should be continued and not stopped.
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