A British study shows that social isolation measures for earlier strains of the new coronavirus have been insufficient to control the recent emergence of a new variant of the virus in the U.K., and that the virus, which has a “huge transmission advantage,” is infecting a higher percentage of people under the age of 20, Bloomberg reported.
A report released by Imperial College London and other research institutions shows that the new variant of the virus has a “huge transmission advantage” and is associated with “increased outbreaks in almost all regions,” the report said.
The researchers found that it could increase the virus’ regeneration number, which is the number of people a patient can infect, by as much as 0.7.
Ferguson, a professor at Imperial College of Technology who modeled the outbreak, said, “This would make control more difficult and further increase the urgency to implement vaccination as soon as possible.”
The study found that social isolation measures for earlier strains were not sufficient to control the spread of the new variants. The U.K. government has previously said that the new variant of the virus is 70 percent more transmissible than other strains, but has provided no concrete evidence.
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