New cases of ‘Pilola’ Covid-19 have been detected in the UK as traces of the variant were detected in wastewater.
The novel coronavirus strain, also known as Covid BA.2.86, was put on watch lists for the first time by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency (UKHSA) after the UK’s first case was detected in London last month. Ta.
The latest case was detected in England, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to three as of August 31, according to the latest UKHSA data.
The variant has been detected in eight countries so far, including 10 in Denmark, 4 in Sweden, 4 in the United States, 2 in Portugal, 2 in South Africa, 1 each in Canada and Israel. ing.
UK government accelerated rollout of fall coronavirus vaccine in direct response to new variant
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Maria van Kerkhove, epidemiologist and WHO’s coronavirus response chief, said very limited information was available about the newly discovered strain. However, symptoms are believed to include runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat.
UKHSA said the UK cases did not appear to have contracted the virus outside the country. Each infection was identified by laboratory tests, and the patients had “no known recent travel history according to routinely collected data.”
The first case in the UK reported “mildly unwell”, but the second reported no respiratory symptoms. A third was in Scotland and was described as “symptomatic”.
The agency added that the variant has also been detected in sewage in several countries, meaning the virus is being shed by people who have the virus, but did not specify where.
Also known as BA.X, the strain was discovered through gene sequencing, the process by which scientists determine what makes up a molecule’s DNA.
This comes as British scientists warn that the UK is “letting its guard down” and “has no idea what’s going on” over the coronavirus pandemic, with children returning to school after the summer break and adults leaving the office. This is in response to the fact that they expressed concern about returning to
“There is a common misconception that we no longer need to worry about the novel coronavirus,” said Lawrence Young, a professor at the University of Warwick.
“One way to control infections is to have at least some idea of where certain outbreaks are occurring so that preventative measures can be put in place to prevent further spread of the virus, but infection We need to figure out where the is,” added Professor Young.
“This new [variant] It’s happening here and there at the moment, but we’re not monitoring it within the collective. “
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) virus surveillance was scaled back in March, but the number of cases soared by nearly 200,000 last month, rising to about 785,000 on July 27, according to the Zoe Health Survey. .
The number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations is now at its highest level in three months.
