Some takeaways:
"s the UK variant more deadly?
Yes, recent studies suggest the UK variant of coronavirus (B117) is linked to a higher chance of hospitalisation and death than the original strain.
A recent study by the University of Exeter and Bristol assessed samples from 54,906 people who had tested positive for the UK strain, against people who had tested positive for other strains.
The study showed that the UK strain led to 227 deaths among 54,906 patients, compared to 141 deaths in the group of the same size with other coronavirus strains. That means the UK strain could be 64 per cent more deadly.
The study was based on people who tested positive for Covid-19 outside of hospital, so isn’t representative of everyone who catches the virus. In particular, people who are diagnosed with Covid in hospital tend to be those who are most unwell and more likely to die, so we don’t know what the difference between strains would be for that group of people.
Even though there is evidence that the UK strain is more deadly, it’s important to remember that the overall risk of death from Covid-19 is still low."