What we know so far about the new coronavirus strain
There is, however, no evidence yet to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness, or that vaccines will be any less effective against the new variant
Over the weekend, officials in London announced a new variant of the Sars-Cov-2 appeared to be taking hold in some parts of the country. They said it could be up to 70% more transmissible than the old variant.
A sign reads "Covid-19 Cases Very High in London. Stay at Home" near a highway in London, UK. (Bloomberg)
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There is, however, no evidence yet to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness, or that vaccines will be any less effective against the new variant. The announcement forced countries around the world to soon announce restrictions on flights from the UK. Till Monday, the number of nations that unveiled such restrictions had grown to at least 33. Scientific knowledge about the new variant suggests there is reason for concern, but none for panic.
Binayak Dasgupta is a senior editor at Hindustan Times, New Delhi, where he has worked since 2013. He heads the paper's Page 1 team and is part of the editorial leadership overseeing daily news operations. He has previously led the national news desk. His work sits at the intersection of specialist depth and emerging public consequence — stories where complexity and nuance are in themselves the journalistic challenge. He shapes Hindustan Times's coverage and editorial positions on technology and artificial intelligence, information security, environment, health and science — steering these subjects from the commissioning of reporting to editing and the framing of the paper’s institutional view. His work spans analysis, commentary and reportage, and in the past, he has led the paper's coverage of Covid-19 pandemic science. His interviews and hosted sessions include Nobel laureates, technology leaders, economists and climate justice scholars. In recent months, Binayak has overseen coverage of the Air India Flight 171 crash and its investigation, India's energy exposure during the West Asia conflict, the trade dispute with the US, Delhi's air quality emergency and the evolving conversations around AI, including the IndiaAI Summit.
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