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ATTN: After easing lockdowns amid Holidays, PM #BorisJohnson today put much of the UK on strict lockdown: no Xmas, no NYsEve. In a mere week the number of #COVID19 cases has soared 40% & govt is blaming a new mutant form of #SARSCoV2 ...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/19/uk/christmas-covid-strain-restrictions-intl-gbr/
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https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/19/uk/christmas-covid-strain-restrictions-intl-gbr/
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...that govt scientists say is 70% more contagious than the types of #SARSCoV2 now spreading in the USA. Fear of the new mutant form of #COVID19 prompted the Dutch govt to ban flights from UK & across the EU similar measures are considered. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/netherlands-uk-flight-ban-covid-new-strain-b1776679.html
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...that govt scientists say is 70% more contagious than the types of #SARSCoV2 now spreading in the USA. Fear of the new mutant form of #COVID19 prompted the Dutch govt to ban flights from UK & across the EU similar measures are considered. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/netherlands-uk-flight-ban-covid-new-strain-b1776679.html
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3/ Last spring a mutant form of #SARSCoV2 emerged, slamming Italy & then New York. It proved more contagious. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcibr2032888
Now, the UK variant, first seen in Sept. in a #COVID19 patient in Kent, has spread across UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-investigating-a-novel-strain-of-covid-19
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Now, the UK variant, first seen in Sept. in a #COVID19 patient in Kent, has spread across UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-investigating-a-novel-strain-of-covid-19
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There's NO evidence the new UK #COVID19 variant causes worse illness. But it may explain the 40%/week surge in cases there. Dubbed VUI-202012/01, the variant features 17 mutations, including some in the spikes the virus uses to infect human cells.
MORE https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4857
There's NO evidence the new UK #COVID19 variant causes worse illness. But it may explain the 40%/week surge in cases there. Dubbed VUI-202012/01, the variant features 17 mutations, including some in the spikes the virus uses to infect human cells.
MORE https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4857
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UK scientist: “This variant is strongly associated with where we are seeing increasing rates of #COVID19 . It’s a correlation, but we can’t say it is causation. But there is striking growth in this variant...we are worried, and it needs urgent investigation.”
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UK scientist: “This variant is strongly associated with where we are seeing increasing rates of #COVID19 . It’s a correlation, but we can’t say it is causation. But there is striking growth in this variant...we are worried, and it needs urgent investigation.”
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Big concern, since the new UK form of #COVID19 has mutations in the spike protein, is that vaccines may not work well against it. UK scientists say they don't think it's a problem, but are aggressively studying the matter. https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4857
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Big concern, since the new UK form of #COVID19 has mutations in the spike protein, is that vaccines may not work well against it. UK scientists say they don't think it's a problem, but are aggressively studying the matter. https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4857
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According to https://www.gisaid.org/
"the new variant, termed VUI 202012/01...was defined by multiple spike protein mutations (deletion 69-70, deletion 144-145, N501Y, A570D, D614G, P681H, T716I, S982A, D1118H)."
See: https://www.gisaid.org/references/gisaid-in-the-news/uk-reports-new-variant-termed-vui-20201201/
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According to https://www.gisaid.org/
"the new variant, termed VUI 202012/01...was defined by multiple spike protein mutations (deletion 69-70, deletion 144-145, N501Y, A570D, D614G, P681H, T716I, S982A, D1118H)."
See: https://www.gisaid.org/references/gisaid-in-the-news/uk-reports-new-variant-termed-vui-20201201/
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More than 350,000 ppl in the UK have received the @pfizer #COVID19 #vaccine so far, and its proponents are at pains to reassure the public that it will protect them from the new mutant form of the virus.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/14/englands-new-covid-variant-should-we-be-worried
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More than 350,000 ppl in the UK have received the @pfizer #COVID19 #vaccine so far, and its proponents are at pains to reassure the public that it will protect them from the new mutant form of the virus.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/14/englands-new-covid-variant-should-we-be-worried
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Meanwhile, a completely separate, new mutant form of #SARSCoV2 emerged in mink populations around the world, especially in Denmark. It is readily transmitted between minks & their human handlers, but so far isn't a human-2-human spreader. https://www.varsity.co.uk/science/20338
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Meanwhile, a completely separate, new mutant form of #SARSCoV2 emerged in mink populations around the world, especially in Denmark. It is readily transmitted between minks & their human handlers, but so far isn't a human-2-human spreader. https://www.varsity.co.uk/science/20338
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& be careful this 
.
