'Highly Worrying' COVID Pressure Sees England Restriction Travel From South Africa

The British government has actually prohibited travelers from South Africa from going into England after a “extremely worrying” new version of COVID was discovered in the U.K.

The procedure came into place at 9 a.m. GMT Thursday, and reflected an “increased danger from a new pressure of coronavirus” called 501.

The news came as the U.K. tried to deal with a separate strain of the coronavirus, B. 1.1.7, that is thought to be better at spreading out than previous kinds, and has actually triggered lockdowns in London, parts of the south east, and the east of England.

He said: “This brand-new variant is highly worrying because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the brand-new variation that has actually been discovered in the U.K.”

Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, U.K., said in a declaration: “The mutation that has cropped in Africa has been seen before, and we have no idea whether it affects on infection transmissibility or immunity.

” We require to study the effect of mutations on infection behavior, but up until we have performed those important experiments we should avoid panicking.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergic Reaction and Transmittable Diseases, said on Monday the U.S. must make the presumption that B. 1.1.7 has actually arrived in the U.S.

” When you see something that is pretty common in a place like the U.K., there are also anomalies that we’re seeing in South Africa, and provided travel throughout the world, I would not be shocked if it’s currently here.

An illustration reveals the shape of coronaviruses. The U.K. has banned visitors from South Africa in the middle of worries about a new strain of COVID.
CDC