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New UK coronavirus strain triggers alarm, curbs
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that a new variant of the Sars-Cov-2 has spread rapidly in parts of the country, and was estimated by scientists to be 70% more transmissible. The announcement was made when the PM unveiled a new fourth tier of restrictions to come into force in UK’s capital and parts of the country’s south-east.
Concerns over a new strain of the coronavirus that is feared to be more contagious forced at least five countries on Sunday to ban travel from the United Kingdom, with several others, including India, considering similar restrictions.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that a new variant of the Sars-Cov-2 has spread rapidly in parts of the country, and was estimated by scientists to be 70% more transmissible. The announcement was made when the PM unveiled a new fourth tier of restrictions to come into force in UK’s capital and parts of the country’s south-east.
Less than 24 hours following that announcement, Netherlands – which too has detected some cases of the new variant – suspended flights from the UK. Later in the day, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Italy announced they too will restrict travel.
A similar decision could also be taken in India, where the government convened an emergency meeting on Monday morning. “We are watching the situation closely and do not rule out a travel restriction. A decision will be taken at the meeting,” said a senior government official, asking not to be named.
Health ministry officials too said that they will hold a meeting to assess the threat from the new variant, news agency PTI reported. “The Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) chaired by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) will hold a meeting on Monday morning to discuss the issue of the mutated variant of the coronavirus reported from the UK. WHO’s India representative Dr Roderico H Ofrin, who is also a member of the JMG, is likely to participate in the meeting,” PTI quoted an unnamed official as saying.
The development came days after London confirmed that Johnson had accepted India’s invite to be the chief guest the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26. The travel curbs also compound problems for the United Kingdom as it finally exits the European Union on December 31 after a transition period this year.
London and Brussels have so far failed to reach a post-Brext trade deal, raising the prospect of chaos in goods traffic. While Johnson and British scientists said it was too early to determine if the new variant was more deadly, other UK officials in London said on Sunday that it was “out of control”.
Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show whether the virus is under control, Britain’s health secretary Matt Hancock replied: “It is out of control and we need to bring it under control… The cases in the Tier 4 areas have absolutely rocketed in the last few days – the last two weeks or so. I am really worried about the NHS (National Health Service).
“That is only just below the number there were at the first peak. It is another reason why everybody needs to follow the new rules and take that personal responsibility,” he added, describing the situation as “incredibly difficult”.
Viruses mutate often as the biological process of replication within hosts they infect is not always a perfect process. The Sars-Cov-2 has also been mutating, but none of these changes have been seen as worrying as yet. One variant, however, overtook a previous variant of the virus early this summer.
According to experts from the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium, the new variant is significant because it now “accounts for an increasing proportion of cases in parts of England”, “has an unusually large number of genetic changes, particularly in the spike protein”, and the mutations have “have potential biological effects”.
Hancock said it was on Friday that scientists showed ministers evidence of the “causality” between the new fast-transmitting variant and the spike in new cases in London and south-east England, which prompted the measures outlined by Johnson on Saturday.
London and south-east England have been placed in the new Tier 4 of the alert system, which has varying curbs, from Tier 1 (lowest) to Tier 4 (toughest; equivalent to full lockdown). People are prohibited from travelling to and out of Tier 4.
Hancock indicated in Sunday media interviews that London’s lockdown could last months, until a vaccine is rolled out across the population. So far, 350,000 people have received the first of their two-dose vaccine delivered by Pfizer/BioNTech.
“There are no easy answers or easy options. I think the mistake would be to ignore new scientific evidence”, he added.
London’s airports, train stations and roads were clogged on Saturday night as thousands tried to escape the new lockdown restrictions that came into effect early on Sunday. Scotland Yard said the police would enforce Tier 4 rules from Sunday.
People’s fury at Christmas plans being cancelled was reflected in screaming newspaper headlines on Sunday and veteran Conservative MP Charles Walker calling on Hancock to resign, amidst growing criticism in the ruling over party over handling of the virus situation.
(With agency inputs)
