A new variant of the novel coronavirus found in Britain has caused fear. The variant appears no more lethal than the original Sars-coV-2 but is much more transmissible. The ripples are not restricted to Britain alone where sixteen million people are already under new severe tier 4 restrictions but have been felt globally.
Already nearly a dozen countries in Europe and elsewhere including India have banned travel from the U.K in hopes of keeping the evolved virus at bay.
As per the preliminary study of European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the variant has the potential to increase by over 0.4 the number of people a person can infect. So far there is no evidence that it can cause any change in disease severity or increase the risk of reinfection.
The new strain was initially detected in September and has been expanding rapidly over the past four weeks. In theory, a virus showing improved transmissibility could threaten any nation with more infections, suffering and death.
It is established fact that all viruses mutate. Many mutations are insignificant and disappear. But sometimes a small change in the genetic code can give the virus an advantage in the pressure-cooker environment of natural selection. While there are many unknowns, scientists looking at genetic sequences of the new strain see an unexpectedly large number of changes — 17 mutations all at once — and some of them concern the spike protein, the device by which the virus attaches to the human cell. There may be a purely biological explanation for the increased transmissibility. One is perhaps the spike protein has improved its function, which might lead to fewer viral particles triggering an infection or a higher viral load in each person, causing a more rapid proliferation to others. Human behavior is also believed to have helped boost the transmission with superspreader events and crowds of people without masks in the UK.
The good news is that, so far, the new strain does not appear to produce a more severe disease outcome or higher mortality. Hitherto, it does not seem to threaten the viability of the first vaccines either. Also, only a few cases caused by the new variant have been reported and the extent of international spread still remains unknown.
The virus crosses an invisible bridge between people when they are in close contact. The best and only defense right now are non-pharmaceutical interventions by closing that bridge with prescribed distancing, masks and good hygiene.
