British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Jan. 22 that preliminary evidence suggests a new local variant of coronavirus (COVID-19) may be more deadly.
Johnson held a briefing on the outbreak at the Prime Minister’s Office, saying authorities had been notified that the variant in the U.K. was not only spreading at a higher rate, but that there were indications that the variant, first identified in London and southeast England, could be more deadly.
Patrick Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said that for every 1,000 people diagnosed with a man in his 60s, for example, an average of 10 people could die. However, if infected with a variant of the virus, there may be about 13 or 14 deaths for every 1,000 people diagnosed.
The Epidemic continues to be serious in the UK, with 40,261 new cases diagnosed on the 22nd, up significantly from 37,892 the day before, and the number of infected people exceeding 3.5 million. Another 1,401 people have died from the outbreak nationwide, bringing the total to 95,981 so far. Johnson said the infection rate remains high, so more action to secure the border and stop the inflow of new variants of the virus cannot be ruled out. Meanwhile, the government will not consider relaxing strict anti-epidemic measures until it has confidence in the vaccine program, but he hopes that when the epidemic slows down, schools can resume classes as a matter of priority.
Indian soldiers rehearsing with masks on.
The UK’s vaccination program is now progressing well, with 5.38 million people receiving their first dose of vaccine as of 22nd, 409,855 of whom were vaccinated in the last 24 hours, breaking a new high. Johnson stressed that according to current evidence, the existing vaccine is still effective against the original and Variant viruses.
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