Why is South Africa’s new variant so scary? UK bans travel to SA

South Africa is suffering a powerful second wave of Covid-19 caused by a new strain of the disease similar to the British variant which is feared to be more contagious and driving a surge of infections among young people.   Cases in South Africa have risen from fewer than 3,000 a day at the start of … Read more

New coronavirus variant has triggered ‘explosive’ outbreaks in London schools

New coronavirus variant has triggered ‘explosive’ outbreaks in schools in London and the South East, says ‘Professor Lockdown’ Neil Ferguson as he warns the strain has likely spread all over Europe already Prof Ferguson said there’d been ‘anecdotal reports’ of ‘more explosive’ clusters Data has suggested children more susceptible to new, rapidly-spreading variant  By Connor Boyd Assistant … Read more

Is the new Covid variant REALLY more infectious for children?

By David Churchill What has happened to the coronavirus to trigger such concern? A new strain of Covid has developed which is said to spread far faster. A ‘strain’ is a new version of a virus which has genetic mutations. The new strain is a version of Sars-Cov-2, the coronavirus which causes the disease Covid-19. … Read more

Mutant British variant of coronavirus ‘is probably already in the US’

The mutant British strain of coronavirus is probably already in the United States and could even have originated there, scientists and politicians have said.  The new strain – feared to be 70 per cent more transmissible and to spread more easily among children – has led to calls for the US to impose a travel … Read more

MARKET REPORT: New Covid variant puts strain on airline stocks

Airline stocks plunged as travel bans were introduced following the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus. On a bleak day for investors that saw the FTSE 100 dive 1.7 per cent, or 112.86 points, to 6416.32, shares in British Airways owner IAG fell 8 per cent, or 12.45p, to 143.9p. Easyjet was down 7.2 … Read more

New Covid-19 variant strain: ‘70% more contagious’ claim questioned

‘Show us the evidence’: Scientists call for clarity on claim that new Covid-19 variant strain is 70% more contagious Boris Johnson was urged to publish clear evidence of coronavirus data last night  Said new variant may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than other strains Professor Carl Heneghan expressed his scepticism over the … Read more

Scientists call for clarity on claim that new Covid-19 variant strain is 70% more contagious 

‘Show us the evidence’: Scientists call for clarity on claim that new Covid-19 variant strain is 70% more contagious Boris Johnson was urged to publish clear evidence of coronavirus data last night  Said new variant may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than other strains Professor Carl Heneghan expressed his scepticism over the … Read more

Nicola Sturgeon will address Scotland tonight after chairing Cabinet meeting over new Covid variant

Nicola Sturgeon will address Scotland tonight after chairing Cabinet meeting over new Covid variant that has cancelled Christmas in England First Minister warned ‘preventative action may be necessary’ to stop the strain  Ms Sturgeon spoke with Scottish colleague and other leaders earlier today Chris Whitty confirmed the new variant is more contagious than previous strains … Read more

Coronavirus: Variant mutation lets it copy itself more efficiently

Senior health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that a new mutation of coronavirus could spread easily across America.  It comes as infections soar across eight states, with more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and 671 deaths, bringing the confirmed total to 2.74 million cases and 128,742 deaths.  A small change to a variant of the … Read more

Scientists discover change to COVID-19 variant that lets it copy itself more efficiently

How a mutant coronavirus strain dominated the world: Scientists discover change to COVID-19 variant that lets it copy itself more efficiently – making it more infectious (but not more deadly) Researchers found the most dominant strain of the virus was a mutation of the original variant called G614 The G strain is not a deadlier … Read more