New COVID Variant in South-East

[umpteennamechanges]

Just seen the breaking news about the new COVID variant in the South East.

Seems to be nothing to worry about on the face of it...but wondering if anyone has / knows of any more info?

@MoirasRoses

Ha. Shocker. The north sees a rise in infections - you are all idiots & not following the rules. The south sees a rise, don’t worry guys, it’s not your fault, new strain. 🙄

I’ve long wondered if there are two strains doing the rounds here. I know loadsa people who’ve had it & none on them have had any chest issues. All, including me currently, have bad headaches, congestion, fatigue. Not a single cough among us?! Barely any fevers either. Seems weird.

It was well known that there was a different strain of Covid that came over here from Madrid back at the start.

Also another strain bought back from Spain in the summer with all the holidaymakers.

[quote CoffeeandCroissant]www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-the-new-variant-of-sars-cov-2/[/quote]

Thanks!

This is the kind of thing I was looking for, very useful!

@IcedPurple

If we look at the European response when a new variant was identified in mink - and compare it to our own response now - we're simply not responsive enough, quickly enough.

Are you suggesting culling the entire population of Kent?

People might call me ridiculous but I have been predicting this for months.

Er, so has every scientist. You are not the oracle.

Viruses mutate. That is not news.

@Blue565

Bizarrely from what I've read in the past about viruses, the ones that spread faster tend to be ones that show symptoms quicker. This in turn may in the longer term be an advantageous development for us in our fight against it.

Other than that, I don't think there is much more info in the public eye yet. It is somewhat unlikely the virus will have mutated sufficiently to be able to dodge the vaccine but nothing is impossible.

Hope you are right

@treening

That's just his manner, I used to work with him many years back!

Thanks for the screenshots Treening, also very useful!

It's quite convenient in both timing and geography 🤷‍♀️

Viruses mutate. That is not news.

Quite.

Hancock’s FIL is in his bubble permanently so he’s not doing a Christmas bubble .

The world has gone mad when I defend a Tory !

@PicsInRed

I really don't want to see another situation where the authorities make reassuring noises about how fine this all is ... then suddenly 💥 it's panic stations in the New Year and we're locking down hard again, when it's really too late to do so, and we no longer have an effective vaccine.

If we look at the European response when a new variant was identified in mink - and compare it to our own response now - we're simply not responsive enough, quickly enough.

I'm not so much worried from an immediate health perspective, I'm worried that we got a viable vaccine at the last possible moment before probably after economic disaster and we simply cannot afford another 12 months and another £400 billion to wait for a new vaccine.

Denmark's mink cull was a nightmare though - the millions of abruptly culled mink were (unsurprisingly) not disposed of properly & are now polluting the local ground water. The pressure on governments to be seen to Doing Something about this week's panic leads to shitty decisions nine times out of ten.

Also, as someone else has pointed out, culling the population of Kent Cos Covid might be considered a step too far, although honestly nothing would surprise me.

I wonder if its similar to new strain discovered in Houston thats more contagious

www.houstonmethodist.org/newsroom/houston-methodist-covid-19-study-shows-rapid-spread-and-potential-for-mutant-viruses/

I came on to say if you’re interested to know more follow Emma Hodcroft on Twitter.

coffeeandcroissants beat me to it.

NOT the mink strain
NOT the emergent EU strain which started in Spain and has been spreading across Europe
NOT the strain with the D796H mutation which has been in debate in scientific circles as an escape mutant.

It does have a spike protein double deletion at 69/70 which was also found in the cluster 5 strain. But also in much more widely seen strain in Denmark.

But that in itself does not confer properties of reduced sensitivity to antibodies.

They don’t know if it has different properties and are currently testing it at porton down. I would expect expect assays to investigate its sensitivity to convalescent plasma to bring back results in the next week.

Chris Whitty on what we do and don't yet know about the new strain.

Actually quite reassuring.

New variant of Covid-19 is 'not more dangerous' - Prof Whitty
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-55308416

From the covid-19 Genomics (COG) Consortium

www.cogconsortium.uk/news_item/update-on-new-sars-cov-2-variant-and-how-cog-uk-tracks-emerging-mutations/

Must say I am sick to
The teeth of hearing 'covid covid covid' day in day out. I don't care about any of it anymore.

Is it just me, or are too many posters a little too amused by the idea of culling the population of Kent?

Is this a north/south thing? 😂

Drop the 5 day party and let’s get on with immunising the vulnerable. Those that can’t have the current vaccine will need to continue to isolate as there is no alternative at the moment.

Close secondary schools as they do not need childcare.

Mass testing in Kent isn’t going to work. Who is going to risk getting a test now with no symptoms when they could end up self isolating over Xmas.

What is now obvious is they have known about the new variant for over a week which to my mind creates my questions than answers.

Surely they know it does/does not respond to the vaccine now??

more

@Unsure33

Why useful timing ? It could just be the reason cases are spreading so fast ? Please tell me you are not trying to politicise a worldwide pandemic?

Exactly🙄

@whoamitojudge

More scaremongering from the government. They know that by announcing a new strain of the virus is only going to scare the majority of the UK population so why not do more research into it and then give us the info from fully trained, qualified medical people and not from people on the internet who “ think” they know it all

What a crock

DD went back to London for work at the beginning of December, after the lockdown. She took a test on Sunday as a precaution, and had a positive result sent through this morning. She now has a slight sore throat, and cough.

She has been ultra-cautious. Obviously don't know what the strain is, but she was in London for four months between lockdowns, following the same routine, and was fine. One of those things.......

Why would the government be scaremongering? They are meant to be secretly in favour of herd immunity and a 5 day holiday from restrictions with no stresses would be more in line with that thinking.
Unless it’s an elaborate double bluff

Personally I dont think it was a scaremongering tactic I think it was burying news tactic. Rather than have the focus on schools and the fact that clearly lockdown followed by tier 2 doesnt work with High Schools being open they buried the lead by focusing on the new variant