England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said that “this particular variant contains 23 different changes.” He found the number of changes unusual, making the variant 70% more infectious and transmissible.
British Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance added, “Given that we’re entering a period of inevitable mixing, I think there will be some increases in numbers over the next few weeks.”
According to Public Health England (PHE), based on backward tracing using genetic evidence, the new COVID-19 variant originated in southeast England in September.
“The increase in cases linked to the new variant first came to light in late November when PHE was investigating why infection rates in Kent [in southeast England] were not falling despite national restrictions. We then discovered a cluster linked to this variant spreading rapidly into London and Essex.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the new COVID-19 variant already spread. It’s been found in Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Australia.
