New South Africa coronavirus variant detected in UK that’s ‘highly concerning and more infectious’

TWO Brits have been diagnosed with another new and "highly concerning coronavirus mutation from South Africa", it emerged today.

Matt Hancock said the new variant is even more contagious than another new strain detected in Kent and London earlier this month, which led to millions being plunged into Tier 4 restrictions over Christmas.

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The Health Secretary urged anyone who has returned from South Africa in the last two weeks to quarantine immediately - and said close contacts of any travellers should also self-isolate.

It comes as flights from South Africa were stopped in order to contain the spread of the new strain as experts warn we could be entering a "dangerous new phase of the pandemic".

The Department of Transport last night confirmed a ban on all arrivals from South Africa from 9am this morning.

British and Irish Nationals, visa holders and permanent residents arriving from the country will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for ten days along with their household. 

All direct flights are banned, excluding cargo and freight without passengers.

The new variant of the virus — known as 501.V2 — is now making up about 80 to 90 per cent of new cases in Africa’s most industrialised nation.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference yesterday afternoon Mr Hancock said: "The other news I want to tell you about is the development of another strain of this virus.

"We have detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the UK.

"Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa in the last few weeks.

"This new variant is highly concerning as it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant which is in the UK.

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"We are quarantining cases and close contacts of cases in the UK.

"Second, we're placing immediate restrictions on travel from South Africa.

"And thirdly and most importantly, anyone from the UK who has been in South Africa in the past fortnight and anyone who is a close contact of anyone who  has been in South Africa in the past fortnight must quarantine immediately."

Mr Hancock said the government is changing the law to make this immediately enforceable.

The Health Secreatary said Sir Patrick Vallance and Prof Chris Whitty have met their South African counterparts to discuss the new strain.

It comes as millions more Brits will be plunged into tougher Tier 4 measures from midnight on Boxing Day.

Mr Hancock said Covid cases have soared by more than 50 per cent in the last week, as a mutant strain spreads across the country.

It means Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, the rest of Essex, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire apart from the New Forest, will face tougher restrictions from December 26.

Northern Ireland’s Department of Health confirmed a positive test for the new variant on Wednesday.

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Health bosses said the new variant, dubbed VUI2020/01, that's driving up UK cases is "very different" to the South African variant.

Dr Susan Hopkins said: "Both of them look like they are more transmissible.

"We have more evidence on the transmission for the UK variant because we've been studying that with great detail with academic partners.

"We're still learning about the South African variant and you've heard already the measures that we're introducing to ensure that we quarantine people who are coming in from South Africa.

"Therefore, we are pretty confident actually that this system we have in place will help control the spread."

And Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries added: "we expect viruses to mutate so it's not a surprise... but all basic measures - including tiers - should prevent the spread."

Mr Hancock thanked the South African authorities for their prompt response on informing Britain on the new strain.

NEW VARIANT

The new variant of the virus — known as 501.V2 — is now making up about 80 to 90 per cent of new cases in Africa’s most industrialised nation.

The variant is different from the British strain that is spreading rapidly, but is also believed to be highly infectious.

“It is still very early but at this stage, the preliminary data suggests the virus that is now dominating in the second wave is spreading faster than the first wave,” Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the government's Ministerial Advisory Committee, said in a briefing.

South Africa may see “many more cases” in the new wave than it experienced in the first surge of the disease, said Professor Karim.

“I will just speculate the following: the…higher viral load in these swabs may translate into a higher efficiency of transmission,” he added.

The new South African variant has been traced to Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape, which was the first major urban area to be hit by the country’s second wave.

South Africa has recorded about 930,000 cases of the virus since the pandemic began and almost 25,000 deaths.

The country currently has more than 8,500 people hospitalised with Covid-19, surpassing the previous high of 8,300 recorded in August.

UK STRAIN

It comes after scientists revealed that another strain of the virus had been detected in England in September and had spread to 57 places.

Mr Hancock said the new variant makes "everything harder" as it spreads so much faster than the first.

Experts this afternoon warned that both the new South African variant and the new UK mutation contain an unusually high number of mutations compared to other SARS-CoV-2 lineage

Dr Andrew Preston, Reader in Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Bath said some of these mutations change the S protein, which is cause for concern.

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He said: "Both contain the N501Y mutation but so do many other variants that do not appear to have increased transmission, so the picture is complex. 

"It is critical to act quickly to ring-fence a high-transmission infection to prevent it from becoming established, so the precautionary quarantine of those who may have come into contact with the SA variant is vital for this."

"It appears we are entering a particularly dangerous phase of this pandemic, making the effective roll out of the vaccines even more time-critical", he added.

Mr Hancock also revealed that more areas would be plunged into Tier 4 from Boxing Day.

Mr Hancock said: "We all know that 2020 has been a hard year and it's ending in this festive period that is going to be very different.

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"After all the efforts that we have gone to to control this virus... we've discovered a new more contagious virus, a variant that is spreading at a dangerous rate."

He said cases have risen by 57 per cent in the last week, with almost as many people in hospital with Covid now as in the peak.

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