UK Health Security Agency says there is `insufficient data’ to assess the new strain’s relative severity
Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology and director of the UCL Genetics Institute at University College London, said, `Most people on Earth have now been vaccinated and/or infected by the virus'. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA WireA new coronavirus variant with a “high number of mutations” has been detected in the UK.
The strain was first detected in Denmark on July 24th and was also found in that country on July 31st, the same day it was discovered in Israel.The variant is said to be gnomically distant from its likely ancestor the BA.2 variant, nicknamed “stealth Omicron”. The agency said it would continue to monitor the spread of the variant closely while checks to determine the risks it may pose continue.
He said: “Even in the worst-case scenario where BA.2.86 caused a major new wave of cases, we are not expecting to witness comparable levels of severe disease and death than we did earlier in the pandemic when the Alpha, Delta or Omicron variants spread.“Even if people get reinfected by BA.2.86, immune memory will still allow their immune system to kick in and control the infection far more effectively.
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