Covid-19: UK Govt warns of new strain that spreads faster and may have already left the UK

The UK Government has warned that the new strain of Coronavirus it has indicated spreads faster, and may already have left the UK. The Country says it is working hard to contain the spread.

This was disclosed by England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty, and the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Pattrick Vallance on Saturday reported by Reuters. The Netherlands also announced it has banned flights from the UK over fears of the newer strain.

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The UK said that the new strain, although spreading faster does not cause higher mortality rates.

“As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance,” Chris  Whitty said in a statement.

“As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly,” he added.

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Patrick Vallance said, the UK does not know if the strain started in the country but believes it has spread to other countries.

“We think it may be in other countries as well,” Patrick Vallance said. “It may have started here, we don’t know for sure.”

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The Dutch Government announced it will ban flights from the UK due to fears of the newer strain discovered in the UK, they said the flight ban will stay in effect until the 1st of January.

The Netherlands said it will monitor developments as it sampled cases disclosed same virus strains as that found in the UK and warns residents to only travel if necessary.

READ: Second wave of Coronavirus pandemic imminent in Europe, Germany and France tighten rules

What you should know 

• The Nigerian Government announced that it is concerned over the rising cases of coronavirus in Nigeria and has resolved for stricter enforcements of social distancing implementations.
• Nairametrics reported that Nigeria recorded a whopping 930 Covid-19 cases in a single day on Thursday, December 17, 2020, confirming that we have entered the second wave of a pandemic that has gripped the world for much of 2020.