The South African coronavirus variant may slip past parts of the immune system in as many as half of people infected with different versions in the past, scientists fear. Researchers say that a mutation on a specific part of the virus’s outer spike protein appears to make it able to ‘escape’ antibodies. Antibodies are substances … Read more
Dozens of cases of the South African Covid variant have already been spotted in Britain, it was revealed today. The Covid-19 Genomics Consortium UK (COG-UK) said 54 Brits have tested positive for the variant so far, with the first case spotted in October last year. It’s likely that there have been far more than 54 … Read more
The super-infectious South African strain of coronavirus is already ‘taking root’ in the UK, experts have warned. So far the Government has only announced two cases of the variant in the UK, both were patients in London who had been in contact with travellers from South Africa last month. But a top SAGE scientist claimed … Read more
The super-infectious South African strain of coronavirus is already ‘taking root’ in the UK, experts have warned. So far the Government has only announced two cases of the variant in the UK, both were patients in London who had been in contact with travellers from South Africa last month. But a top SAGE scientist claimed … Read more
The South African strain of coronavirus isn’t spreading rapidly through the UK, No10’s scientific advisers said today in a bid to calm fears about the super-infectious variant. So far only two people in Britain have tested positive for the mutated strain, which has been subject to international panic after causing an explosion of cases in South … Read more
No new cases of the South African Covid variant have been spotted in Britain over the past fortnight, in a glimmer of hope that the highly-contagious mutation has not yet taken root in the country. Two infections with the mutant form of Covid had been identified on British soil by December 23, Health Secretary Matt … Read more
British authorities are ‘incredibly worried’ about the highly-infectious South African coronavirus mutation which top experts there fear could scupper the UK’s vaccine roll-out, the nation’s health secretary warned today. Hancock warned the variant – which has already been spotted in the UK – posed a ‘very, very significant problem’. The new variant, dubbed 501Y.V2 has become … Read more
Matt Hancock today revealed he is ‘incredibly worried’ about the highly-infectious South African coronavirus mutation which top experts fear could scupper Britain’s vaccine roll-out. The Health Secretary warned the variant — which has already been spotted in the UK — posed a ‘very, very significant problem’. His comments came after one of the Government’s coronavirus … Read more
Coronavirus vaccines could be ineffective against the highly-infectious South African mutation, a scientist who helped develop the Oxford jab has warned. Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford, said the African strain is more concerning than the Kent one. Vaccines are believed to be effective against the highly-infectious UK variant VUI-202012/01 currently causing … Read more
African internet scammers target lonely locked-down Brits as romance fraud hits record 7,000 cases in 2020 and detectives call on ministers to crack down on Facebook Graeme Biggar, head of National Crime Agency’s National Economic Crime Centre, said agency is combating surge in fraud during Covid-19 pandemic He warned social media companies like Facebook would … Read more