8 European Countries fall prey to new strain of Corona Virus
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New Delhi, Dec 26: World Health Organisation Director has recently announced that a new strain of Corona Virus has been detected in eight European countries. The new strain is spreading rapidly among the younger groups unlike the previous strain.
Recently, the mutant virus was first discovered in UK. According to experts, this mutant transmitted at faster rates as compared to the normal COVID-19 virus. India too faced higher transmission of the COVID-19 variants between March and May. It was named the 'A4 variant'. It began in South East Asia. However, the mutant died on its own. In other words, the intensity of the spread of the mutant began to decrease after a while.
The new COVID-19 virus has been named Variant of Concern, VOC-2020 12/01. Previously it was called as Variant Under Investigation. The mutant has variations in its spike protein.
The mutation has occured in N501Y. N501Y means that the amino acid represented by letter N and present at position 501 in the COVID-19 genetic structure has been replaced by another amino acid, that is represented by Y. the mutation has basically increased the binding affinity of the virus.
8 countries in the @WHO_Europe region have now identified the new #COVID19 variant VOC-202012/01. It is vital to strengthen existing protective measures: distancing/masks/staying in core support bubbles. @WHO is continuing to monitor & will provide updates👉 #solidarity is key
— Hans Kluge (@hans_kluge) December 25, 2020
According to the World Health Organization, the other mutations that may influence the transmissibility of COVID-19 virus in humans are P681H and HV 69/70. The P681H mutation is capable of promoting entry into respiratory epithelial cells and transmission in animal models. P681H means that the amino acid represented by letter P and present at position 681 in the COVID-19 genetic structure has been replaced by another amino acid, that is represented by H.
The HV 69/70 was created due to deletion of amino acids at positions 69 and 70. These positions are in the spike protein. These mutations were found in France and South Africa.
The WHO has not yet revealed any particular names of countries that have fallen prey to the new strain of Corona virus and the Regional Director of WHO Europe Hans Kluge has assured through a tweet that necessary measures are being monitored by the organization.
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