New Covid strain UK: what are the symptoms of the new coronavirus variant

 And it is feared that the mutated variant of the virus could attack the immune system after vaccination.

It comes as the UK recently passed another grim milestone, recording more than 80,000 Covid-19-related deaths, according to official figures.

Here you will find everything you need to know about the new strain and whether you should be concerned about it.

Where did the variant come from?

Matt Hancock told MPs on Monday, December 14, that a new variant of Covid-19 had been identified and that it was spreading in some areas of the country.

The new strain, called VUI - 202012/01, was first detected in September, and in November about a quarter of coronavirus cases in London were the variant.

It quickly spread across southeast England, prompting more than 50 countries to halt flights to or from Britain to prevent spread.

It was first detected in October by the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (Cog-UK).

The new strain was found in two samples, collected in Kent in London, on September 20 and 21.

Virologists suspect that the multiple mutations occurred in a patient with a severely weakened immune system, who may have had the virus for weeks and then infected another person.

Is it more transmissible?

The new sprain spread rapidly in London and the south-east of England, becoming the dominant variant.

It was responsible for 62 percent of infections in London during the week ending December 9 and is now present in Scotland, Wales, and throughout England.

Because it has spread rapidly, scientists believe it could be up to 70% more transmissible than other variants.

That was also the figure that Boris Johnson was referring to when talking about the new strain, saying that it could increase the R number, the infection rate, by at least 0.4.

However, Professor Neil Ferguson, speaking in a question and answer session with members of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag), said there is strong evidence that the new strain is 50% more transmissible than the original variant.

Can it infect children more easily?

The new variant could infect children more easily, said Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the government's advisory group on new and emerging respiratory virus threats (NervTag).

He said there is a "hint" that the virus has a "higher propensity" to infect children, according to the latest data.

Professor Ferguson explained: "What we have seen over the course of a five or six week period is that the proportion of pillar two cases for the under-15 variant was statistically significantly higher than for the non-variant virus.".

However, he cautioned that more data would be needed before a conclusion could be reached.

Can a test detect the new strain?

Standard Covid-19 swab tests, now widely used in testing centers across the UK, will be able to detect the new variant of the virus, said England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty.

However, it is too early to know exactly what the new strain will do with the behavior of the virus.

Can it cause more serious symptoms?

There is currently no evidence to suggest that the new strain of coronavirus may cause more severe or different symptoms than other variants.

At the moment, it appears that the symptoms of the new strain are the same, as it was detected through the standard PCR test, which is usually given to people who have symptoms of traditional viruses.

However, if the new variant means that more people are getting infected more quickly, then more people will be hospitalized later.

As scientists conduct studies and gather additional information about the new strain, they will be able to determine if it is related to any difference in symptoms.

Will it respond to a vaccine?

It is feared that the vaccines will not work against the new strain and scientists are currently studying whether current Pfizer and Oxford vaccines will work against the new strain.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said clinical councils had so far suggested that it would be "highly unlikely" that the new strain would not respond to a vaccine.

And BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told Bild TV that he was confident that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine would be effective against the new strain, but that his company would still be investigating the variant in the coming days.

Moderna, which makes the third coronavirus vaccine to arrive in the UK in March, is also testing its vaccine against the new version of the virus.

The vaccines invented by Pfizer, Moderna, and Oxford train the immune system to attack the spike protein of the virus, which is where the mutation has been found.

However, the human body learns to fight multiple parts of the beak, which is why health experts have said the vaccine will continue to work against the new strain.

When the mass vaccination program really begins and many people receive the injection, the virus will have to mutate again to try to infect the people who have been immunized.

A regularly evolving virus could lead to multiple updates to the vaccine, just like the flu vaccine.

What is a mutation?

A mutation is a change in the genome of a virus, which is the set of genetic instructions that contains all the information the virus needs to function.

Mutations occur when the virus comes into contact with a host and begins to replicate.

The instruction set is then copied, but errors can often occur in the process.

Where errors occur within the genome will determine whether they have a positive or negative impact on the virus's ability to survive or replicate.

SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus, which is more prone to mutations, unlike DNA viruses, such as smallpox.

As it has passed from person to person over the past few months, Covid-19 has been and continues to be, mutating.

Should we be concerned about the new strain?

Matt Hancock said there was "nothing to suggest" that the new strain is more likely to cause serious illness, although he urged the public to be "vigilant" and follow current rules and restrictions to ensure that the spread does not increase.

The good news is that mutations are part of the natural process of an RNA virus and are very common.

Since the coronavirus began to spread around the world, it is believed to have been mutating twice a month to find the most effective way to infect humans.

Sometimes a virus mutates in a way that makes people's infection worse, and the new strain may disappear.

However, the new strain could affect how quickly the virus spreads between people, which could explain why levels of the variant are higher where there are more cases.

Scientists will analyze its behavior to determine if it really spreads faster than existing versions of the coronavirus.