The new Covid-19 variant is more contagious than other variants and affects a greater proportion of those under 20, but isn’t more deadly, a study has found.
A new British study found the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has a higher reproduction or “R number” than previous variants by between 0.4 and 0.7.
The increase in the R number has seen a number of countries, like the UK, struggle to contain the virus. The UK’s latest R number is estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.3 - above the value of 1.0 needed for case numbers to decrease.
The paper also found “a small but statistically significant shift towards under 20s being more affected”. But, the paper also noted the very latest data showed the variant spread quickly across all age groups.
London's Imperial College professor Axel Gandy, a member of the research team for the paper, said the difference between the variants of the virus was “quite extreme”.
"This is the most serious change in the virus since the epidemic began," Gandy told BBC News.
An “R number” describes a disease’s ability to spread, with its value representing the number of people, on average, an infected person would pass the virus onto.
The number is estimated using data such as the number of people dying from a virus, how many are admitted to hospital, and how many people test positive for a virus.
The new Covid-19 variant was first discovered in the UK in September last year.
SHARE ME