Another type of coronavirus infection has been discovered in the UK.

This was announced during a press conference by the country's Minister of Health Matt Hancock, quoted by the Independent newspaper.

According to the head of the Ministry of Health, the specified type of SARS-CoV-2 was brought to the kingdom from South Africa.

Hancock said that at the moment two cases of infection with a new variant of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country, both patients are under close medical supervision.

Against this backdrop, the British authorities intend to impose travel restrictions on arrivals from the Republic of South Africa.

Those who have arrived from there within the last two weeks are asked to immediately self-isolate.

According to the minister, such measures are temporary while specialists from the laboratory in Porton Down study a new strain of the virus. 

"This new variant is of serious concern because it is even faster transmitted and appears to have mutated more strongly than the new variant previously found in the UK," Hancock said. 

In this regard, the head of the Ministry of Health said that from December 26, the authorities will expand the effect of restrictive measures introduced in the country to a larger number of regions in the south-east of England.

Restrictions will fully affect Essex, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Hampshire, West Sussex and Norfolk.

We will remind, on December 14, Matt Hancock announced the discovery in the UK of a new type of coronavirus, which, he said, could cause a sharp increase in the spread of the disease in several regions of the country. 

"Initial analysis showed that this variety is spreading faster than those already known," he said. 

Then the chief sanitary doctor of England Chris Whitty, as well as the Prime Minister of the country Boris Johnson, confirmed that the new variant of the virus could spread faster than the original SARS-CoV-2, but stressed that they did not have any data that it was capable of cause higher mortality or more severe disease.

  • AFP

  • © Niklas HALLE'N

At the same time, Johnson announced the introduction from December 20 in London and a number of regions of the kingdom of the fourth, maximum level of restrictions in order to stop the spread of infection.

The measures taken include the closure of non-food shops, restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers.

Exit and entry to areas where the specified level of restriction is in effect is limited.

After that, a number of states announced their decision to suspend flights and rail links with the UK.

The cancellation of flights was reported, in particular, by Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, Austria, Estonia, Turkey, Switzerland and some other countries.

The Russian embassy in London commented on the current situation, saying that the emergence of a new strain of coronavirus is being carefully studied by the government operational headquarters of the Russian Federation.

They recalled that Russia had decided to limit air traffic between the countries for a period of one week.

The question of organizing any export

flights from the UK are not worth it, the embassy added, and also drew attention to the need to comply with travel restrictions and precautions introduced by the British authorities.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the UK has the sixth largest number of detected cases of COVID-19 in the world: more than 2.1 million people have been confirmed with the coronavirus.

During the pandemic, over 69 thousand patients have died from the disease in the kingdom.

Registration of "Sputnik V" in Argentina

Meanwhile, the Russian Direct Investment Fund announced the registration of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V in Argentina.

“RDIF announces registration of the Russian vaccine against coronavirus Sputnik V by the Argentinean National Medicines, Food and Medical Technology Administration (ANMAT),” the press release said.

  • RIA News

  • © Abzal Kaliev

The fund added that the registration was carried out under an accelerated procedure.

They clarified that they signed a contract with the government of the country for the supply of 10 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

"The vaccine has received regulatory approval without additional clinical trials in Argentina based on the results of phase III clinical trials in Russia," added the RDIF.

they also stressed that the drug for supply to Argentina will be produced by RDIF's international partners in India, China, South Korea and other countries.

"Registration of the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina without additional clinical trials in the country is a high recognition of Russian regulatory standards and the quality of clinical trials," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the foundation.

Thus, Argentina became the second foreign state to officially allow the use of the Russian drug for COVID-19.

Belarus was the first to officially register Sputnik V on its territory.

Minister of Health of the Republic Dmitry Pinevich said that the first batch of vaccine will arrive in the country in January, at the same time it is planned to start the vaccination campaign.

“We became the first country (after Russia. -

RT

) to take part in clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine. Today we can officially declare that, according to the data available to date, the vaccine is safe and effective, no serious or unexpected side effects have been identified, ”the minister said.