People wearing masks to prevent the spread of the Chinese Communist virus (COVID-19) walk in front of a banner emphasizing an intensified social de-escalation campaign displayed on the wall of Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 25, 2020.
The world is alarmed after the emergence of a more infectious variant of the Chinese Communist virus in the United Kingdom. More than 40 countries have imposed travel bans on the UK as of the 21st. Unfortunately, at least five countries have already seen this variant of the virus. Scientists believe this variant of the virus could get out of hand. So how scary is the variant virus? The Epoch Times has ten questions for you.
British health Minister Matt Hancock told the media on the 20th that the Chinese communist virus has mutated into a new strain of virus that is “difficult to control”, making the outbreak spread faster. Unfortunately, he said, the emergence of new strains of the virus is out of control and the variants are “out of control.
Other British officials say the strain is 70 percent more infectious than the mainstream strain.
At least 40 countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, announced a ban on British flights on the 21st in order to prevent the spread of the new strain of the Chinese communist variant.
Scientists believe that this super-contagious variant of the virus is likely to spread worldwide and become the dominant strain worldwide. So what do we know about the virus now? Here are the top 10 questions from The Epoch Times’ analysis of the CCP variant virus.
First, what is this new virus all about?
It is a new version of the Chinese Communist virus (COVID-19) that has been genetically mutated and named VUI-202012/01, a combination of letters and numbers that stand for “variant under investigation” and time (December 2020).
Why is it so worrying?
This particular variant is due to as many as 17 mutations in the coronavirus spike protein (the coronavirus has spine-like protrusions on its surface, and the spike protein is located at the top of these protrusions).
Scientists believe that these changes cause the virus to become more infectious and can help the virus’ spike protein latch on to human cells and invade more easily.
Third, how strong is it spreading?
British Prime Minister Johnson said Dec. 19 that the new variant of the virus is 70 percent more infectious than other existing strains of the virus, now causing a rapid spike in the number of confirmed cases in southern England and London.
According to data from the U.K. Department of Public Health, about 1,100 cases of the CCP virus were confirmed to be infected by the variant on Dec. 20.
Patrick Vallance, chief scientific advisor to the British government, said at a briefing last Saturday (19), “This new variant is becoming the dominant strain; it outpaces all others in terms of transmission.”
Fourth, is the new strain more deadly?
For now scientists don’t think so. When asked Saturday night if it was more deadly than previous strains of the virus, Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s chief medical officer, said probably not.
Public Health England’s Dr. Susan Hopkins said there is evidence that patients infected with the new virus have higher levels of the virus in their bodies, but she said that doesn’t mean people will be sicker.
“It’s unlikely to make people sicker, but it may make it harder to control,” said Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University.
V. When did this virus emerge?
Vallance, the British government’s chief scientific adviser, said the strain of the virus was discovered in southern England in September and has since spread across the country.
The virus was first discovered in London on Sept. 21 and in Kent on Sept. 20. Statistics from the UK in November showed that 28% of confirmed cases in London were from this variant of the virus, and by mid-December, the figure was close to two-thirds (62%).
VI. Who discovered this new virus?
It was discovered by the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium, which performs random genetic sequencing of COVID-19-positive samples.
The consortium is a team of four UK public health agencies, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and 12 academic institutions.
VII. Why didn’t we act sooner?
The rapidly spreading nature of this new strain of the virus was only discovered by scientists late last week.
At the time, health officials in the UK were debating whether it was the general negligence of the public to prevent the disease or the high infectivity of the new virus that caused the rapid spread of the outbreak. Later, scientists investigated further and found that the new variant of the virus was significantly more infectious than other strains of the virus.
VIII. Has it been detected in other parts of the world?
The new variant of the virus has now been seen in at least Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, and Italy.
According to scientists, an aspect of the new virus, known as the N501Y mutation, was circulating in Brazil in April, in Australia between June and July, and in the United States in July of this year.
Dr. Julian Tang, a virologist and respiratory science expert at the University of Leicester, said, “Whether these viruses were brought to the U.K. and Europe by travelers, or whether they arose spontaneously around the world, requires further investigation.”
Another virus, known as the D614G mutation, has previously been found in western Europe and North America. However, it may also have evolved in the UK.
IX. What causes mutations?
One guess is that the virus “renewed itself” as the natural immunity of the UK population grew, making it more difficult to spread the virus.
Another theory is that the new virus developed in people with chronic illnesses and was then transmitted to others.
Professor Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the second theory was “highly likely”, although he stressed that it could not yet be proven.
X. Does it affect the effectiveness of the vaccine?
British Prime Minister Johnson said there is no evidence that the variant virus will weaken the effectiveness of the vaccine, but there is no official conclusion from the medical community, and experts are studying it.
Vallance said that preliminary conclusions show that the risk of this variant is low and unlikely to affect the effectiveness of the vaccine, and that “the assumption now is that the immune response stimulated by the vaccine should be sufficient to deal with this virus, but we need to be vigilant about it.”
He believes that theoretically, this new strain could alter the immune response, although so far there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case.
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