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The new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus has also been found in Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark in addition to the UK.
Apart from Denmark, there were individual cases, reported the coronavirus expert of the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria van Kerkhove, in Geneva on Monday.
The virus can also be brought under control in the new variant, emphasized the WHO emergency aid coordinator Michael Ryan.
"The situation is not out of control," he said.
“But we have to work harder.
The virus can be stopped. ”Protective measures such as keeping your distance, avoiding direct contact and washing your hands are also exactly the right ones for the new variant in order to avoid infection as much as possible.
According to initial findings by British scientists, the mutation discovered in Great Britain could be up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously known form.
The R value, which indicates how many other people an infected person can infect, is 1.5 instead of 1.1 for the new variant, said Kerkhove.
The R-value for measles is between 12 and 18, Ryan said.
When the proteins in a virus like this change, it affects how well the virus can penetrate human cells, Ryan said.
If it could penetrate more easily, the viral load could also increase - the amount of virus a person carries - and that would lead to higher contagion.
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In Great Britain, the new form of the virus is spreading rapidly, especially in London and south-east England.
Numerous countries have therefore stopped flights from the UK.
According to the WHO, there is no evidence that people in whom the new variant has been detected have a more severe course of the disease than those who were previously infected.
The virus variant that has emerged in South Africa has similar mutations, but is a different variant than the variant discovered in Great Britain.
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