Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the technical group of the Emergency Diseases Unit of the World Health Organization, said that the new coronavirus mutations found in the UK and South Africa are not related.
“It sounds like they are related, but in fact, it is a separate option,” Kerkhove said at the briefing.
Earlier it was reported that new varieties of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were discovered in South Africa and in the southeast and east of England.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a special press conference, said that the new SARS-CoV-2 mutation is 70% more infectious than the original version. However, according to him, there is no evidence that this mutation of the coronavirus causes more severe forms of the disease and has a higher mortality rate.
Against the background of the discovery in England of a new strain of coronavirus, most European countries have suspended flights with the UK.
