The British Government confirmed this Tuesday that “follows closely” the appearance of a “descendant” of the Delta variant of the Coronavirus, which could be between 10 and 15% more transmissible than this one, which is already double the contagious that
The original SARS-COV-2.
The experts have been called “Ay.4.2” and warn that its frequency has increased in the United Kingdom, where it could now be responsible for almost 10% of COVID cases, as explained by two experts to the Times Financial Journal (FT).
Its prevalence, added, is increasing rapidly, but not as fast as the first delta did after passing from India to this country at the beginning of this year.
This “new lineage of SARS-COV-2” is “descendant” of the DELTA variant (B.1.167.2) and “has two characteristic mutations” in the S protein, “Y145H” and “A222V”, which could offer
To the virus advantages to survive, he said in the publication Science Media Centrefrancois Balloux, one of the two experts cited by the FT.
In case of preliminary tests, “Ay.4.2” could become the most infectious coronavirus variant since the pandemic began, Balloux said, director of the University College London Genetics Institute.
“But we must be cautious at this time. The UK,” he said, “is the only country in which it has taken off in this way and it would not yet rule out that its growth is due to a fortuitous demographic event.”
However, it is “probable” that the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as “variant under investigation”, so it would then be assigned a letter of the Greek alphabet, Balloux said.
Even so, he asked not to “panic”, because although it could be “slightly more transmitted”, it will not be “something as disastrous as what we have previously experienced”.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman for British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, stressed today that the authorities continue “very close” their evolution and assured that “we will not hesitate to take the necessary measures.”
