New ‘highly contagious’ Covid-19 variant present in Germany since November

Researchers detected the new Covid-19 variant in samples of an elderly patient who tested positive around November and later died in Germany.

The discovery of a new strain of coronavirus in Britain earlier this month prompted may countries to suspend flights to and from the UK. However, a media report suggested that the new Covid-19 variant, which is believed to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the previous strains, existed in Germany since November.

Researchers at Hannover Medical School detected the new variant in samples of an elderly patient who tested positive for coronavirus around November and later died, said a report in the German national daily Die Welt published on Monday.

However, Germany officially reported its first known case of the new variant on December 24. A woman who flew in from Britain tested positive for the new variant, the health ministry of the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg had said.

New Covid-19 variant can spread easily amongst people

According to British scientists, the new variant, named VUI 202012/01 (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020), has 17 mutations that affect the shape of the virus, including the spike protein that gives the coronavirus family their name. The scientists suspect that the genetic mutation in the "spike" protein may be responsible for easy spread of the virus amongst people.

What's more worrying is that this strain can infect children more easily. The earlier coronavirus strains found it harder to infect children as they have fewer of the doorways called the ACE2 receptor that the virus uses to enter a human body's cells.

Scientists who are tracking the variant said the mutations to the virus appear to be making it easier to breach these doorways, making children equally susceptible to this virus as adults.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine claimed that that new COVID-19 strain is 56 per cent more contagious than the previous strains and it can spread at a faster pace. They fear that the new coronavirus strain may lead to more COVID-related hospitalisation and deaths in the year 2021 as compared to the year 2020.

India detects six cases of new Covid-19 variant

Six passengers who had arrived in India from the UK have tested positive for the new mutant coronavirus strain three in Bengaluru, two in Hyderabad and one in Pune according to the Union Health Ministry. All the patients are in isolation in private single rooms at state government facilities and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

Taking cognizance of the reports of the spread of the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK, the Indian government had put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant. It included temporary suspension of all flights coming from the UK with effect from the midnight of December 23 till 31 and mandatory testing of all UK returnees through RT-PCR test.

Besides India, the presence of the new coronavirus variant has been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

With inputs from IANS