New COVID-19 Variant Found in UK

Misbar’s investigation found that a new strain of COVID-19 has emerged in Southeastern England. As of December 19, thousands of UK citizens have contracted the new strain. The UK government has responded with a new set of restrictions. Coincidentally, this strain was discovered just after the vaccine has been developed, leading to some speculation amongst the conspiracy-minded.

However, this isn’t the first time the virus has mutated. In fact, these mutations occur about one a month. Few of these mutations have changed the nature of the virus. We’ve written about COVID-19 mutations before, specifically those coming from minks in the Danish fur industry.

So what’s different about this variant? There are some differences in the virus’s spike protein, which gives coronaviruses their distinctive appearance. At the time of writing, there’s no evidence to suggest that this new strain has any resistance to the new vaccine. It’s centralized in a Western country, however, which may explain its heightened news presence in Western media.

It’s currently unknown if there’s an increase in transmission rates with this variety. Research is ongoing. The UK’s response seems perfectly reasonable, given the mysterious nature of the mutation.