UK’s virus variant has spread to 50 countries, says WHO

Published January 14, 2021
The coronavirus mutation first found in Britain has now spread to 50 territories, according to the World Health Organisation. — Reuters/File
The coronavirus mutation first found in Britain has now spread to 50 territories, according to the World Health Organisation. — Reuters/File

GENEVA: The coronavirus mutation first found in Britain has now spread to 50 territories, according to the World Health Organisation, while a similar South African-identified strain has now been found in 20.

The UN body also noted a third new coronavirus “variant of concern” found in Japan may impact upon immune response and needs further investigation.

“The more the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change. High levels of transmission mean that we should expect more variants to emerge,” said the WHO. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus which causes Covid-19 disease.

Since first being reported to the WHO on December 14, the British-identified variant VOC 202012/01 has been found in 50 countries, territories and areas, the agency said.

Test results showed the age and sex distribution was similar to that of other circulating variants, while contact tracing data revealed “higher transmissibility (secondary attack rates) where the index case has the variant strain”.

The South African-identified variant 501Y.V2, first reported on December 18, has now been detected in 20 countries, territories and areas.

“From preliminary and ongoing investigations in South Africa, it is possible that the 501Y.V2 variant is more transmissible than variants circulating in South Africa previously,” the WHO weekly report said.

“Moreover, while this new variant does not appear to cause more severe illness, the observed rapid increases in case numbers has placed health systems under pressure.” The geographical spread of both variants is likely underestimated, said the WHO, given a bias towards detection in countries with virus sequencing capacity.

Meanwhile the agency said it had been notified by Japan on January 9 of a new variant detected in four travellers arriving from Brazil. The variant was found in two adults and two children.

“This variant has 12 mutations to the spike protein, including three mutations of concern in common with VOC 202012/01 and 501Y.V2” it said, “which may impact transmissibility and host immune response”.

The WHO said researchers in Brazil had additionally reported the emergence of a similar variant, which had likely evolved independently of the variant detected in Japan.

“The extent and public health significance of these new variants require further investigation,” the report said.

The WHO held a meeting of 1,750 international scientists on Tuesday to discuss critical knowledge gaps and research priorities for emerging variants.

“Our collective goal is to get ahead of the game and have a global mechanism to quickly identify and study variants of concern and understand their implications for disease control efforts,” said Ana Maria Henao Restrepo, the WHO’s research and development chief.

The WHO said the new variants showed the importance of increasing diagnostic capacity and systematic sequencing of the virus.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

E-governance
Updated 10 Jan, 2025

E-governance

Wishing for a viable e-governance system seems like a pipe dream when stable internet connectivity is not guaranteed.
Khuzdar rampage
Updated 10 Jan, 2025

Khuzdar rampage

Authorities must explain how terrorists were able to commandeer the area for eight hours.
Beyond wheelchairs
10 Jan, 2025

Beyond wheelchairs

THE KP government’s Rs370m assistance programme for persons with disabilities is a positive step, not only in ...
Taking cover
Updated 09 Jan, 2025

Taking cover

IT is unfortunate that, instead of taking ownership of important decisions, our officials usually seem keener to ...
A living hell
09 Jan, 2025

A living hell

WHAT Donald Trump does domestically when he enters the White House in just under two weeks is frankly the American...
A right denied
09 Jan, 2025

A right denied

DESPITE citizens possessing the constitutional and legal right to access it, federal ministries are failing to...