UK Health Minister Sajid Javid has acknowledged that a new variant of the delta strain, AY.4.2, is spreading in the country. This is reported by the Manchester Evening News.
“And although there is no reason to believe that AY.4.2 poses an increased threat, the next strain or strain that appears after it may be more dangerous,” the minister said.
In this regard, Javid urged the British to actively vaccinate against coronavirus infection.
Earlier, the Financial Times, citing experts from the Senger Institute in Cambridge and the Institute of Genetics at University College London, reported that a new strain of coronavirus AY.4.2 is spreading in the UK, which may be 10-15% more infectious than the Indian strain.
According to the newspaper, the new strain accounts for about 10% of all cases of COVID-19 infection in the UK.
Alexei Agranovsky, a virologist, professor at Moscow State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences, told RBC that if the data on a new variant of the delta strain – AY.4.2 – are confirmed, then it deserves close attention and has the potential for further spread. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to say how much AY.4.2 is more infectious than delta, the virologist added.
