Chief freelance specialist of the Ministry of Health of Russia for medical prevention of the Ural Federal District (Ural Federal District), Doctor of Medical Sciences Sergei Tokarev said that a new strain of COVID-19 “Iota” was identified in the United States. He revealed information about the new strain in an interview with URA.RU.
The specialist referred to an article from the MedRxiv portal, noting that the lethality of the new strain reaches 82 percent.
“A new Iota strain has been identified in New York. It gives a mortality rate of up to 82 percent, especially in the age range over 45, and is transmitted 25 percent faster than other mutations, ”Tokarev said. The new strain is more pathogenic and infectious, and can also elude the immune response, the specialist assured.
Nikolay Kryuchkov, an immunologist, general director of the contract research company “KEG”, Ph.D. “It will be possible to say something definite only for a certain time, when its share will begin to grow very rapidly. If it grows, then there are evolutionary advantages that make it possible to successfully compete with other strains of strains, ”said the immunologist.
On August 10, the British infectious disease specialist, director of the Oxford vaccine development group, Professor Andrew Pollard, called the achievement of herd immunity in the population impossible in the conditions of circulating the “delta” strain of COVID-19.
Earlier it was reported that children's hospitals in the US state of Florida were overcrowded with patients with COVID-19. On August 8, the state recorded the largest number of child patients with coronavirus – 172. This is happening against the backdrop of a surge in cases of infection with the “delta” strain.
