A route of the Covid-19 variant still difficult to trace

British authorities explain the rise in Covid-19 cases by the appearance of a new strain.

Here, King's Cross London station, December 20, 2020 © REUTERS / Toby Melville

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2 min

For four days, a variant of Covid-19 has worried Europe.

Discovered in the United Kingdom, this variant virus caused the air and sea isolation of the British Island, more or less strict depending on the country, to prevent it from spreading across the world.

However, nothing says that this variant was born in England.

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Difficult for the moment to retrace the course of this variant with precision.

If it was officially detected for the first time in the United Kingdom a few days ago, it is probably because the country is one of those in the world which sequenced the most positive tests, precisely to find d 'possible mutations.

No precise place of birth yet

Every week, 5-10% of positive samples are sent to a lab to sequence the virus genome.

Moreover,

the Genomics UK consortium

, responsible for this surveillance of the virus, had already observed this line of mutation last September, in the south-east of England as well as in London.

According to the WHO, similar forms have been found in several other countries, notably in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.

It is therefore difficult to assign a precise place of birth to this new variant!

Finally, the variant discovered a

few days ago in South Africa

is different from the British one, even if the two have several similarities.

► To read also: United Kingdom: the new strain of Covid-19 causes anxiety about shortages

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  • Coronavirus

  • Health and medicine

  • United Kingdom

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