Covid variant which was first detected in India, now found in UK
Kathmandu, April 16. A new variant of the coronavirus, which was first found in India has now been found in UK.
UK has reported a total of 77 cases of the variant, known as B.1.617.
It is currently labelled as “variant under investigation”. If worries about it are borne out, for example if it appears to be more infectious or more resistant to the body’s immune response, then it may be designated a “variant of concern”.
The B.1.617 variant is worrying as it contains two mutations in their protein that may boost the ability to escape the body’s immune systems, increasing the possibility that it might infect the body more easily.
Prof Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia said, “These two escape mutations working together could be a lot more problematic than the South African and Brazilian variants who have only got one escape mutation. It might be even less controlled by vaccine than the Brazilian and South African variants.”
The arrival of the India variant has pushed UK towards surge testing and increased contact tracing.
India is currently experiencing a destructive wave of the virus with 200,000 cases everyday.
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