Coronavirus second wave: New Covid strain UK - Wetin we know
Di way one new variant of coronavirus dey spread fast-fast don dey cause concerns across di world, sotee some kontris don already place travel ban on di UK - wia dem first discover di new variant.
Dis na foto of one computer-generated graphic of di virus in front of red blood cells E don go from wetin no dey exist to di most common form of di virus in parts of England in a matter of months. UK goment advisers on new infections don "moderate" confidence say E dey more able to transmit than oda variants. Why dis variant dey cause concern? Three things wey dey come togetheron why e dey attract more attention. All of these come together to build case for a virus wey fit spread more easily. How much faster e dey spread? Dem first detect am for September. For November around one quarter of cases for London na di new variant. E reach nearly two-thirds of cases for mid-December. Di figure wey Prime Minister Boris Johnson mention na say di variant fit dey up to 70% more transmissible. He say dis fit dey increase di R number - wey dey show if epidemic dey grow or reduce. - by 0.4. Dat 70% number appear for one presentation by Dr Erik Volz, from Imperial College London, on Friday. During di tok he say: "E dey really too early to tell… but from wetin we see so far e dey grow very quickly, e dey grow faster than [one previous variant] don eva grow, but e dey important to keep an eye on am." How far e don spread? Reports bin say di variant fit don emerge in a patient for di UK or dem import am from a kontri wit a lower ability to monitor coronavirus mutations. Di variant dey across di UK, except Northern Ireland, but e dey heavily concentrated for London, di South East and eastern England. Cases neva really dey for oda places for di kontri. South Africa don also discover one similar variant wey shares some of di same mutations, but e be like e no dey dis one. E don happun before? Yes. Di virus wey dem don first detect for Wuhan, China, no be di same one you go find in most corners of di world. Di D614G mutation emerge for Europe for February and become di globally dominant form of di virus. Another one wey dem dey call A222V, spread across Europe and dem link to pipo wey go do summer holiday for Spain. Where e come from? Di most likely explanation be say di variant bin emerge from a patient wit a weakened immune system wey no fit beat di virus. Instead dia body become one breeding ground for di virus to mutate. Coronavirus up close Di infection dey more deadly? Evidence no dey to suggest say e dey more deadly, although dis go will need be monitored. However, just di way di transmission dey increase dey enough to cause problems for hospitals. If di new variant mean say more pipo go dey infected more quickly, dat mean say more pipo go need hospital treatment. Vaccines go work against di new variant? Almost certainly yes, or at least for now. All di three leading vaccines develop an immune response against di existing spike, which na why di question come up. Vaccines dey train di immune system to attack several different parts of di virus, so even though part of di spike don mutate, di vaccines suppose still work. "But if we let am add more mutations, then you start to worry," Prof Gupta from University of Cambridge tok.