Over the course of the pandemic, scientists have been monitoring emerging genetic changes to Sars-Cov-2. Mutations occur naturally as the virus replicates but if they confer an advantage – like being more transmissible – that variant of the virus may go on to proliferate. This was the case with the ‘UK’ or B117 variant, which is about 50% more contagious and is rapidly spreading around the country. So how does genetic surveillance of the virus work? And what do we know about the new variants? Ian Sample speaks to Dr Jeffrey Barrett, the director of the Covid-19 genomics initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, to find out
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The new UK Covid variant: your questions answered
You asked us about the fast-spreading coronavirus variant, here are the answers
How do scientists know the new UK variant is 70% more transmissible, and how certain are they of this figure?
Our gift to the world: the UK variant of Sars-CoV-2. There are sufficient data to quote 70% greater infectivity, but how was this figure ascertained?” D Moon, Brighton
Continue reading...One in five in England have had Covid, modelling suggests
Analysis shows 12.4 million people infected since start of pandemic, against 2.4 million detected by test and trace
One in five people in England may have had coronavirus, new modelling suggests, equivalent to 12.4 million people, rising to almost one in two in some areas.
It means that across the country as a whole the true number of people infected to date may be five times higher than the total number of known cases according to the government’s dashboard.
Continue reading...Salim Abdool Karim: ‘None of us are safe from Covid if one of us is not. We have mutual interdependence’
The face of South Africa’s Covid science on why Africa has been hit less hard than Europe, the new variant in the region, and the danger of vaccine nationalism
The epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim could be considered South Africa’s Anthony Fauci. As co-chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, he is the government’s top adviser on the pandemic and has become the country’s face of Covid-19 science. He also sits on the Africa Task Force for Novel Coronavirus, overseeing the continent’s response to the global crisis.
Karim, who directs the Durban-based Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa and is a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, has long advocated for science and speaking truth to power. For three decades, along with his wife and scientific collaborator, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, he has been at the forefront of the fight against South Africa’s substantial HIV and tuberculosis epidemics and in the early 2000s was one of the scientists who spoke out against the government’s Aids denialism.
Continue reading...How race to track mystery gene with links to three cancers saved millions
25 years ago, a mutation was discovered that makes some people susceptible to the disease, and now it has transformed treatment
Ten years ago, Tony Herbert developed a lump on the right side of his chest. The clump of tissue grew and became painful and he was tested for breast cancer. The result was positive.
“I had surgery and chemotherapy and that worked,” he said last week. But how had Herbert managed to develop a condition that is so rare in men? Only about 400 cases of male breast cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK compared with around 55,000 in women. A genetic test revealed the answer. Herbert had inherited a pathogenic version of a gene called BRCA2 and this mutation had triggered his condition.
Continue reading...Now we have the coronavirus vaccine, how soon can we get back to normal life?
The government has ordered sufficient doses to inoculate the entire population of the UK against Covid-19 but we are in for a long haul
When will the Covid-19 vaccine begin to have an effect on the nation?
The government has pledged to offer vaccines to 15 million people – the over-70s, healthcare workers and those required to shield by mid-February, and millions more by spring. This should slowly bring the virus under control although it will take many weeks before we can be sure the vaccine is having an effect. Numbers of daily cases of Covid-19 may drop but that decline could simply be due to impact of current lockdown measures. Only when hospital admissions start to reduce significantly will we be sure the vaccine is having an impact. Then there could be be a slackening of lockdown measures. Few scientists believe that will happen before Easter, however.
Continue reading...Fears Covid vaccines would not work against South Africa variant led to travel curbs
Minister says extra check on travellers introduced as ‘we simply cannot take chances’
Fears that Covid vaccines will not work against the new South African strain of the virus have prompted the introduction of testing for new arrivals into England and Scotland from abroad, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has said.
Outlining the new testing regime for England and Scotland, he told Sky News: “This is an extra check and we’re doing this now because there are these variants that we’re very keen to keep out of the country, like the South African variant, for example.
Continue reading...Many ‘long Covid’ sufferers unable to fully work six months later
Respondents to global survey report 205 symptoms across 10 organ systems after infection
Many people suffering from “long Covid” are still unable to work at full capacity six months after infection, a large-scale survey of confirmed and suspected patients has found.
While Covid-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most people would recover within two or three weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers reported experiencing symptoms for months on end.
Continue reading...First patient receives Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine – video
An 82-year-old retired maintenance manager has become the first person in the world outside clinical trials to receive the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
Brian Pinker, a dialysis patient, received the jab at 7.30am on Monday from Sam Foster, a nurse at Churchill hospital, part of the Oxford University hospitals NHS foundation trust.
- Oxford man, 82, first in world to get Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine
- Coronavirus – latest updates
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Nicaragua’s Covid story far from truth | Letter
The country should not be held up as a shining example in its response to the pandemic, writes Dr Hilary Francis, who points to the failure to provide accurate data and firing of health workers
John Perry (Letters, 31 December) suggests that we should learn from the Nicaraguan government’s management of Covid. He doesn’t mention that 700 Nicaraguan health professionals wrote an open letter begging the government to acknowledge the extent of the crisis, or that at least 10 health workers have been fired for criticising the government response. In the absence of accurate government data, an independent citizen observatory has been established, which attempts to keep track of the rate of infection. They estimate 11,935 cases in the period to 23 December, nearly double the official number.
On 21 December, Nicaragua’s national assembly passed a law that gives President Daniel Ortega the right to unilaterally declare that citizens are “traitors to the homeland” and ban them from running for office. The new legislation ensures that elections, scheduled for November 2021, will not be free and fair. There are no lessons to be learned from Ortega’s policies, but Nicaragua’s descent into dictatorship demands much closer attention.
Dr Hilary Francis
Northumbria University
Dr Anthony Fauci says US will not delay second doses of Covid vaccine
American infectious disease expert disagrees with UK’s plans to prioritise first doses
The American infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said he does not agree with the UK’s approach of delaying the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
On Friday, Dr Fauci told CNN that the United States would not be following in the UK’s footsteps and would follow Pfizer and BioNTech’s guidance to administer the second dose of its vaccine three weeks after the first.
Continue reading...Golden ticket: the lucky tourists sitting out coronavirus in New Zealand
Visitors from UK and North America tell of finding themselves with a pass to one of the best-rated pandemic responses in the world
For Christmas 2019 Efrain Vega de Varona gave his partner plane tickets to New Zealand – her dream holiday destination. It has proved a gift that keeps on giving.
A year later they are still in New Zealand, having decided to stay put at the end of their two-week holiday in mid-March rather than return to Los Angeles. “We’ve been living out of two suitcases for 10 months,” says Vega de Varona from their latest Airbnb rental (number 50-something this year) in Island Bay, Wellington.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: EU rollout of Pfizer vaccine may be disrupted by supply issues, BioNTech warns
Latest updates: German biotech startup warns of ‘gaps’ in vaccine supply; re-analysis Covid tests in US raises questions about origin of B117 ‘UK strain’
- Key London hospital preparing for Covid-only care as cases surge
- New coronavirus variant may have been in US since October
- UK doctors despair over public’s disregard for rules
- See all our coronavirus coverage
India has asked China to allow two Indian cargo ships which have been stranded for months near two Chinese ports because of the pandemic to rapidly unload their cargoes or replace their 39 crew members.
“There is growing stress on the crew members on account of the long delay,” Indian external affairs ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said. “We expect that this assistance will be provided in an urgent, practical and time-bound manner, given the grave humanitarian situation that is developing onboard the ships.”
The UK economy begins 2021 on the back foot as record numbers of coronavirus infections and tougher restrictions cloud the outlook for growth and limit the chances of a rapid recovery from the country’s worst recession in 300 years.
There had been hopes that the arrival of successful Covid vaccines could prompt a rebound in activity. But with new government controls to combat the rising infection rate, the outlook is deteriorating.
Related: UK economic outlook for 2021: Covid surge deepens the gloom
Continue reading...Questions hang over UK’s rollout of Oxford/AstraZeneca jab
Analysis: regulator surprises by approving 12-week gap between first and second shots of vaccine as well as Pfizer/BioNTech shot
It’s a pragmatic solution to an incredibly urgent problem – how to immunise very large numbers of people at risk from a rampaging variant of Covid-19 in the shortest possible time. The answer that government advisers have come up with is to give them all – more than 20 million of them – a single shot of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine so that they have some protection and postpone the second dose to three months afterwards, when hopefully there will be plenty of vaccine available for boosters.
Related: How well does the Oxford vaccine work? What we know so far
Continue reading...Science matters. The remarkable response to Covid has reminded us | Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz
While there have been setbacks, in Australia at least it would be hard to find many people distrusting of scientists
Being an epidemiologist in 2020 has been a very odd experience. This time last year, when I told people my job title, more than half the time I’d be met with a blank look and then the tentative question: “Is that … like a skin doctor?”.
Explaining that it was more like a spreadsheet doctor rarely went down that well.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: more countries report suspected cases of new Covid variant
Latest updates: South Africa imposes tighter restrictions amid sharp increase in cases; UK told it must vaccinate 2 million people per week to avoid new wave
- Covid vaccine uptake high despite concerns over hesitancy
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- South Africa bans alcohol sales; Spain sets up Covid vaccine register
- See all our coronavirus coverage
India has found six people who returned from the UK in recent weeks with the more infectious strain of the virus that has prompted border closures around the world, Reuters reports.
Nevertheless, the country’s daily increase in cases fell to a six-month low.
Hello and thank you for reading our live coverage. I’ll be with you for the next few hours. Here’s a brief summary of where we stand:
Continue reading...I’m a consultant in infectious diseases. ‘Long Covid’ is anything but a mild illness | Joanna Herman
Nine months on from the virus, I am seriously debilitated. This is how the new NHS clinics need to help thousands of us
With the excitement of the Covid vaccine’s arrival, it may be easy to forget and ignore those of us with “long Covid”, who are struggling to reclaim our previous, pre-viral lives and continue to live with debilitating symptoms. Even when the NHS has managed the herculean task of vaccinating the nation, Covid-19 and the new mutant variants of the virus will continue to circulate, leaving more people at risk of long Covid. Data from a King’s College London study in September suggested as many as 60,000 people in the UK could be affected, but the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics suggest it could be much higher.
I was acutely ill in March, though – like many people with long Covid – mine was defined as a “mild” case not requiring admission to hospital. Nine months on, I am seriously debilitated, with crashing post-exertional fatigue, often associated with chest pains. On bad days, my brain feels like it doesn’t want to function, even a conversation can be too much. I have no risk factors, I’m in my 50s, and have always been fit, but remain too unwell to work – ironically as a consultant in infectious diseases. Watching the pandemic unfold from the sidelines when I should have been working in the thick of it has only added to the frustration of my protracted illness.
Continue reading...Scientists call for UK lockdown after rapid spread of Covid-19 variant
Stricter measures needed as cases of mutated virus, linked to UK travellers, are reported across globe
Cases of the new variant Covid-19 virus were confirmed in several European countries on Saturday, including Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. All were linked to people who had arrived from the UK.
Meanwhile, Japan has announced it is banning all new entries of foreign nationals from Monday following the discovery of the variant in travellers from the UK.
Continue reading...Coronavirus live news: millions more wake up to tier 4 in England
Follow all the latest on the coronavirus pandemic across the world
- Millions wake up to tougher restrictions in UK
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The new variant of the coronavirus circulating in Britain has been detected in Sweden after a traveller from Britain fell ill on arrival and tested positive for it, the Swedish health agency said on Saturday.
A health agency official, Sara Byfors, told a news conference that the traveller, who was not identified, had kept isolated after arrival to Sweden and that no further positive cases had so far been detected.
Jordan has arrested a journalist over an article alleging that the coronavirus vaccine had arrived in the kingdom and that officials had received the jab, a judicial source said on Saturday.
“The state security court prosecutor ordered the arrest Thursday of journalist Jamal Haddad, editor of news website Al-Wakaai, for writing that government officials had been vaccinated against the coronavirus,” the source said.
Continue reading...Ten reasons why we got Covid-19 vaccines so quickly without ‘cutting corners’ | Adam Finn
The speedy rollout is thanks to a combination of foresight, hard work and lucky breaks
The speed at which effective Covid-19 vaccines have come through to authorisation has caused surprise. Compared with previous vaccines, the process has been very fast and so, naturally, people are asking how can it have happened without some kind of compromise on standards and care. Explaining it all as simply a result of the wonders of the latest scientific advances seems vague. So how has it actually come about? In reality, there are at least 10 reasons: some are about good planning, some good science and some just good luck.
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