LONDON (UK) – According to a matched study by Public Health England, the new variant of the novel coronavirus does not seem to cause more severe illness than other variants.
Scientists say the new variant can spread more rapidly. After having found in England in mid December, led to other countries enforcing travel restrictions to the United Kingdom. Several other countries have reported variants.
As per the study, researchers compared 1,769 people infected with the new variant with 1,769 who had, according to them, a “wild-type” virus. The two groups were matched 1:1 based on factors such as age, sex, area of residence and time of testing.
According to the study, of the 42 people admitted in hospital, 16 were infected with the new variant while 26 cases had wild type infection. In terms of fatality, there were 12 deaths in variant cases compared to 10 deaths in wild-type cases.
he study said, “Preliminary results from the cohort study found no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between cases with the variant and wild-type comparator cases.”
No significant difference was found in the likelihood of reinfection with the new variant with regard to the other variants, it said.
The study, however, added that the “secondary attack rate”, or the proportion of contacts of confirmed cases that develop into disease themselves, was found to be higher in people infected with the new variant.
Britain recorded 53,135 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, marking the highest number since mass testing was started in mid-2020. The Times reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given approval for placing more parts of the country into the highest level of restrictions, known as tier 4.
