# 2020 /21 Covid-19 new virus strain news and discussions.



## Maarkhoor

LONDON: British health secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was "out of control".

Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England's population could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out.


"We acted very quickly and decisively," Hancock told Sky News, justifying the "stay at home" order, ban on family gatherings over Christmas and closure of non-essential shops.

"Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly.

Around 16.4 million people entered the strictest "tier four" measures from Sunday, or 31 percent of England's population.

They are not allowed to hold family gatherings for Christmas, while in the rest of the country households are allowed to mix on Christmas Day alone.

London's Metropolitan Police said that it would take action against those who "make reckless decisions that risk lives." 
Other UK regions have also tightened their anti-virus measures in response.

Wales introduced a strict lockdown from Sunday, while Scotland has banned travel to and from other UK regions for Christmas. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland will enter fresh lockdowns on December 26.

Hancock told Sky News that the situation was "deadly serious."

"It's going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out," he said, adding: "This is what we face over the next couple of months."

The UK hopes to reach a figure of half a million vaccinations over the weekend, the health minister said.

Scientists first discovered the new variant in a patient in September, Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told Sky News.

She said that scientists in November found the new strain was behind a cluster of cases in Kent and spreading into London and Essex and informed the government on December 11.

Public Health England then again notified the government on Friday when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain, she said.

She confirmed the figure given by Johnson that the new virus strain could be 70 percent more transmissible while saying this was an initial figure.

"I think 70 percent looks like a good number to land on at the moment," she said.

The virus has been found in all regions of England but in small numbers, Hopkins said.

Hancock said cases have also been identified in Australia and Europe.

Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, said Saturday that the new strain "contains 23 different changes," including to the way the virus binds to human cells and enters cells.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News that London now has the same number of inpatients with the virus as during the peak of the first wave in April. Cases have also grown rapidly among those aged 10 to 19, he said.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Observer weekly that "if this new variant is behind the increase in this age group, then that is a big worry."

The grave situation prompted widespread criticism of the prime minister for promising last week not to "cancel Christmas."

"Not much was understood about this mutant virus. But that uncertainty should have been enough for the PM to see that then was the time to call off Christmas," wrote The Sunday Mirror weekly.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer said in a video statement: "We have a prime minister who is so scared of being unpopular that he is incapable of taking tough decisions until it is too late."




*Flights banned*



European countries started banning flights coming from the UK as the government in London warned about the new strain.




Following the example of the Netherlands, where a ban on all UK passenger flights came into effect on Sunday, a German government source said Berlin, too, was considering a similar move as "a serious option" for flights from both Britain and South Africa.




The Dutch ban came into effect from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) and will last until January 1. And neighbouring Belgium also said it was suspending flight and train arrivals from Britain from midnight .








Britain says new virus strain 'out of control' - Times of India


British health secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was "out of control".Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England's population...



timesofindia.indiatimes.com




UK says new coronavirus strain is more infectious, but vaccines should still work

Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

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## vi-va

Will tRump call it British Virus? Just wondering.

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## xyxmt

vi-va said:


> Will tRump call it British Virus? Just wondering.



UK born Chinese virus

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## Kamikaze Pilot

xyxmt said:


> UK born Chinese virus


Accurate. 

- PRTP GWD


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## manga

vi-va said:


> Will tRump call it British Virus? Just wondering.


Chinese virus mutated in UK.


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## vi-va

manga said:


> Chinese virus mutated in UK.


WHO reported coivd-19 come from nature, emerged years ago. 
There are blood sample from mid 2019 in Italy with coivd-19.

Then where are other coronavirus come from? Are they come from Ganges River?

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## Titanium100

Shit is getting out of hand countries are shouting down their airports and banning exits and outs. Saudi Arabia has example banned all entry from ports and airports

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## INS_Vikrant

Welcome 2021, or more precisely 2020 MK 2.

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## Mrc

Pakistan needs to act fast and impose atleast 7 days quarenteen for people coming from UK

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## Beast

manga said:


> Chinese virus mutated in UK.


Lol.. sourgraped loser. Anyway it your Indian dying while no Chinese died. I guess u deserve for racist. 


xyxmt said:


> UK born Chinese virus


U mean UK export virus to China? Lucky we shut out UK. No wonder UK need to leave EU. They really need to be isolate.

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## TaiShang

A major failure in Western governance.

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## vi-va

TaiShang said:


> A major failure in Western governance.


A major failure among many other Western governance failures.

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## TaiShang

vi-va said:


> A major failure among many other Western governance failures.



They need serious introspection and self-criticism. I doubt governing elite have this capacity, though.

Populism and other/enemy-making is easier and always works.

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## vi-va

TaiShang said:


> They need serious introspection and self-criticism. I doubt governing elite have this capacity, though.
> 
> Populism and other/enemy-making is easier and always works.


The establishment will control social media after tRump kicked out of white house.
The social media has backfired US itself.
US is going through Arab Spring, which actually WINTER IS COMING.

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## Dalit

@RAMPAGE You got any suggestions with your miracle vaccine?


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## bbccdd1470

Beast said:


> Lucky we shut out UK. No wonder UK need to leave EU. They really need to be isolate.


The UK found out that mutated virus in September and by November 1/4 of their cases were infected by this "super spreading" mutated version. But the UK didn't warn others until recently due to some countries already got infected.

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## RealNapster

Is it the start of the movie Doomsday ?


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## Maarkhoor

*New Covid strain: India suspends UK flights till December 31 *








New Covid strain: India suspends UK flights till December 31 - Times of India


India Business News: Considering the prevailing situation in the UK, the government of India has decided that all flights originating from the UK to India shall be tempora




timesofindia.indiatimes.com


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## 313ghazi

All countries should ban air travel during the pandemic. Should have done this a whole year ago. 

The British government approach to COVID has been a joke!

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## TaiShang

bbccdd1470 said:


> The UK found out that mutated virus in September and by November 1/4 of their cases were infected by this "super spreading" mutated version. But the UK didn't warn others until recently due to some countries already got infected.



Cover-up?

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## xuxu1457

sad for that,Hope the mutation won't affect the vaccine.

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## kris

vi-va said:


> WHO reported coivd-19 come from nature, emerged years ago.
> There are blood sample from mid 2019 in Italy with coivd-19.
> 
> Then where are other coronavirus come from? Are they come from Ganges River?
> 
> View attachment 698352


Corona is a group of virus, covid 19 is one among the group..

Corona virus group causes common cold and seen in many contries


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## CrazyZ

New virus strain has been known about since November and already spread to other parts of Europe. Noise now is just a way UK can get out of Brexit negotiations, IMO.


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## bbccdd1470

TaiShang said:


> Cover-up?


I don't know, this is how Tvb reported.

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## Abu Dhabi

I have just only started the process of bringing back our house maid from the Philippines and now this !!! grrrrr


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## RAMPAGE

Dalit said:


> @RAMPAGE You got any suggestions with your miracle vaccine?


Again, read a bit of science, genetics in this instance, during your time off from trolling Indians.

Such minor genetic mutation will not affect the efficacy of existing vaccines. The killed pathogen of which the vaccine comprises and the new strain are virtually the same to an immune system.

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## Maarkhoor

Maarkhoor said:


> LONDON: British health secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was "out of control".
> 
> Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England's population could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out.
> 
> 
> "We acted very quickly and decisively," Hancock told Sky News, justifying the "stay at home" order, ban on family gatherings over Christmas and closure of non-essential shops.
> 
> "Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control."
> Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly.
> 
> Around 16.4 million people entered the strictest "tier four" measures from Sunday, or 31 percent of England's population.
> 
> They are not allowed to hold family gatherings for Christmas, while in the rest of the country households are allowed to mix on Christmas Day alone.
> 
> London's Metropolitan Police said that it would take action against those who "make reckless decisions that risk lives."
> Other UK regions have also tightened their anti-virus measures in response.
> 
> Wales introduced a strict lockdown from Sunday, while Scotland has banned travel to and from other UK regions for Christmas. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland will enter fresh lockdowns on December 26.
> 
> Hancock told Sky News that the situation was "deadly serious."
> 
> "It's going to be very difficult to keep it under control until we have the vaccine rolled out," he said, adding: "This is what we face over the next couple of months."
> 
> The UK hopes to reach a figure of half a million vaccinations over the weekend, the health minister said.
> 
> Scientists first discovered the new variant in a patient in September, Susan Hopkins of Public Health England told Sky News.
> 
> She said that scientists in November found the new strain was behind a cluster of cases in Kent and spreading into London and Essex and informed the government on December 11.
> 
> Public Health England then again notified the government on Friday when modelling revealed the full seriousness of the new strain, she said.
> 
> She confirmed the figure given by Johnson that the new virus strain could be 70 percent more transmissible while saying this was an initial figure.
> 
> "I think 70 percent looks like a good number to land on at the moment," she said.
> 
> The virus has been found in all regions of England but in small numbers, Hopkins said.
> 
> Hancock said cases have also been identified in Australia and Europe.
> 
> Patrick Vallance, the government's chief scientific adviser, said Saturday that the new strain "contains 23 different changes," including to the way the virus binds to human cells and enters cells.
> 
> London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Sky News that London now has the same number of inpatients with the virus as during the peak of the first wave in April. Cases have also grown rapidly among those aged 10 to 19, he said.
> 
> Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Observer weekly that "if this new variant is behind the increase in this age group, then that is a big worry."
> 
> The grave situation prompted widespread criticism of the prime minister for promising last week not to "cancel Christmas."
> 
> "Not much was understood about this mutant virus. But that uncertainty should have been enough for the PM to see that then was the time to call off Christmas," wrote The Sunday Mirror weekly.
> 
> Labour Leader Keir Starmer said in a video statement: "We have a prime minister who is so scared of being unpopular that he is incapable of taking tough decisions until it is too late."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Flights banned*
> 
> 
> 
> European countries started banning flights coming from the UK as the government in London warned about the new strain.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Following the example of the Netherlands, where a ban on all UK passenger flights came into effect on Sunday, a German government source said Berlin, too, was considering a similar move as "a serious option" for flights from both Britain and South Africa.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Dutch ban came into effect from 6:00 am (0500 GMT) and will last until January 1. And neighbouring Belgium also said it was suspending flight and train arrivals from Britain from midnight .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Britain says new virus strain 'out of control' - Times of India
> 
> 
> British health secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was "out of control".Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England's population...
> 
> 
> 
> timesofindia.indiatimes.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UK says new coronavirus strain is more infectious, but vaccines should still work
> 
> Read more at:
> https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...ofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst


@waz @Irfan Baloch @Foxtrot Alpha @Horus @WebMaster 

Kindly make this thread sticky.


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## Feng Leng

Gonna be lot of English patients now


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## Nadeem Ganjum

call it covid20


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## BHAN85

tomorrow Spain suspends flights from UK


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## Dalit

RAMPAGE said:


> Again, read a bit of science, genetics in this instance, during your time off from trolling Indians.
> 
> Such minor genetic mutation will not affect the efficacy of existing vaccines. The killed pathogen of which the vaccine comprises and the new strain are virtually the same to an immune system.



There he is. The Indian lover. Your vaccines are failing.

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## DocEinstein

Do not make jokes about the current development or take it lightly. It has always been a concern in the medical community whether the virus is going to stay the same or be "dumb" like the Influenza virus during its subsequent multiplications and cannot keep the original amino acid sequences and thus return with a change in its antigens.
If that happens like what is being seen with the new mutant strain, then it means that the vaccine produced with the previous available antigens will lose efficacy fast.
Why do you think that a new Influenza vaccine is made every season ? Nearing the end of every Influenza season the previous vaccine that was created based on last year strains is only left about 30-40% effective. Hence the antigens from the latest strains are used to make the vaccine for the next coming season of Influenza.
Now remember the Influenza season runs between October to March/April giving respite between the subsequent wave. Influenza also has a lower infectivity rate and people can get by even without vaccination during the season by being careful and maintaining proper precautions.
However the Covid-19 virus seems to be causing infections through out the year albeit some slowing down after the initial wave and then causing a re-spike (whether due to seasonal changes or just the distancing/isolation precautions playing as the major factor need to be concluded).
Already the existing Covid strains have demonstrated more infectivity and mortality, lets say compared to the Influenza virus. And the new strain is being touted to have a higher infectivity rate. How frequently do you think the vaccine will need to be updated or received by the human population if this trend with the mutation is seen to be real and keeps on ?
Just consider it a warning sent by almighty Allah to the humanity to reflect on our deeds and sins.
May Allah forgive his creation and give us knowledge and ability to deal with this punishment going forwards. Being on the forefront, I have seen enough grief and heartbreak in people from their loss already. It is always a struggle to keep going on and living with the fear (not for self) but to bring something back to the family and loved ones.
May Allah protect all of you and bless you and forgive our ill deeds and sins. Ameen.


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## muhammad504

Nothing new here, mutation is usual behavior of every virus. But precaution is always better and helps to avoid worst if happened. Current mutation rate is one mutation every two week, that is just too slow to make vaccine ineffective.


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## StormBreaker

Abu Dhabi said:


> I have just only started the process of bringing back our house maid from the Philippines and now this !!! grrrrr


Khafee?


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## Abu Dhabi

StormBreaker said:


> Khafee?



Inshallah


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## GumNaam

the question is that the anti-bodies/t-cells produced by the immune system from the existing covid-19 vaccines...are those anti-bodies/t-cells going to be capable of killing this new covid-19 strand?


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## TruthHurtz

As viruses become more transmissible they become less deadly, this is well known and actually benefits the virus because it would allow its host to spread it farther without being bogged down with symptoms or dying

Call it a 'herd immunity' strain

Obviously there's no proof this new strain does anything it's purported to, which is the new standard for science in 2020


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