After reaching to almost all parts of the world, it doesn’t seem like coronavirus pandemic is taking a stop. In fact, the researchers believe that the strain infecting the patients right now is not the same as that of Chinese coronavirus. It is a mutated, faster, and deadlier version of the novel coronavirus that was first identified in China.
This news came after the new coronavirus outbreaks in the UK were reported. Although the new cases were somehow controlled in many parts of the world including the UK but these new outbreaks suggest that the pandemic is not yet over.
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Nick Loman is a part of the UK’s Covid-19 Genomics Consortium said in his recent interview that the strain which is infecting patients is D614G. It is a deadlier version of the original coronavirus from China. It suggests why controlling strategies for this pandemic is not reaching to the desired situation despite trying best.
Loman who teaches at the University of Birmingham says that this new strain is less likely to cause death, explaining why a huge number of patients are recovering from the infection which wasn’t a case in China, in the first couple of months.
The researchers analyzed nearly 40 thousand viral genomes through different samples collected from confirm coronavirus patients form the hospitals. They conclude that the new coronavirus strain namely D614G is behind the new cases.
He shared the importance of spikey protein in coronavirus structure which is the key to enter into human body cells. This mutated virus is responsible for the increased number of cases in the UK which were not typically expected as the government is trying to take a hold on this situation.
The mutation in the new coronavirus strain was first identified by its digital model which showed some changes in the protein structure, allowing a little change in viral route and entry to the cells. Later on, the clinical trials of the coronavirus samples obtained from the hospital patients confirmed this mutation.
But this viral mutation would not have any effect on the coronavirus vaccine development programs. Because it is 75% similar to the original virus, which explains that the vaccine would be effective against it, despite being mutated.
This viral mutation is not just in the UK, it is common everywhere. The first coronavirus identified in the Wuhan city of China was a D-type virus. But the international cases report a G-type virus which is a little different from the original viral structure suggesting a mutation.
This new strain is less likely to kill the patient unlike the coronavirus from China. Many medical experts believe that the deadly phase of this virus is over and right now it is just completing its life cycle and it may end soon on its own, without needing a vaccine.
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This mutation is important to consider to get a hold over its transmission and preventing new cases. Although it looks like a small impact it is not something that should be completely ignored just because it doesn’t look much serious.
Being able to transmit faster is something that is more fearsome than the severity of infection caused by this new strain of coronavirus. The mutation which makes it spread faster is responsible for the new cluster cases being reported in the UK and it might be the same in many other parts of the world too.
The Government has urged all people to follow social distancing and use face mask whenever outside and interacting with people. Only through these precautionary measures the spread of coronavirus could be controlled.
