COVID variant in South Africa is greater risk than UK strain: Health is second

The New COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa The British Health Secretary said on Monday that the risk is greater than the highly contagious strain that has appeared in UK patients.

Secretary Matt Hancock described the South African alternative as “a very big problem” in an interview on Monday on the BBC.

“I am very concerned about the South African alternative, which is why we took the measure that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa,” he said on the program. “This is a very, very big problem … and it’s a bigger problem than the UK’s new variant problem.”

Hancock ITV News said The subspecies found in South Africa “appears to be much easier to transmit than the new variant we saw here.” [in the UK]. “

Only two cases of the South African type have been documented in the UK, but officials hope to keep dealing with them, as 55,000 cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in the country on Sunday, according to the report.

He said, “We have to watch this matter because it is more difficult to deal with than the British alternative.”

Hancock’s concern stems from concerns that vaccines will not be as effective against the South African alternative as they are in the United Kingdom. ITV political editor Robert Piston tweetedQuoting a scientific adviser to the government.

Oxford University scientist Sir John Bell Radio Times said Sunday that more research is needed, and there is a “big question mark” over whether vaccines will work on the new strain, known as 501.V2.

But Bell added that he doubted vaccines would become completely ineffective against the alternative.

With wires