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A NEW coronavirus variant that experts say is “deadlier” than the Delta strain has already ripped through 30 countries.
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Where has it come from?
Public Health England (PHE) states there are currently eight known cases of the C.37 variant, as of June 21, 2021.
The variant is currently classed as “under investigation” and experts could then classify it as “of concern” once they have done a risk assessment.
This will depend on how transmissible the variant is and how many cases have been detected.
The Malaysian Health Authority claims the variant comes from Peru, a country with one of the highest Covid mortality rates in the world.
Also known as C.37, the Lambda strain was first detected in Peru in 2020 before quickly spreading to 30 countries, including Britain.
Of particular concern to virologists is the L452Q spike protein because of its potential to infect human cells like the L452R mutation in the highly infectious Delta variant.
Peruvian scientists noticed the variant in December 2020 when it accounted for “just one in every 200 samples”.
By March 2021, that jumped to 50 per cent of cases.
Now that figure is a whopping 82 per cent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Peru has one of the highest Covid death tolls in the worldIs it more infectious?
The Delta variant is the reason the lifting of restrictions was pushed back in the UK and experts have warned that the Lambda variant could be even more infectious than that.
Pablo Tsukayama, a molecular scientist at the Cayetano Heredia university in Lima said the virus’ rapid rise “would suggest its rate of transmission is higher than other variants”.
In neighbouring Chile, it accounts for almost a third of cases, though scientists are unable to say which strain is more transmissible.
Eight cases have already been reported in the UK – all of which were linked to overseas travel.
The World Health Organization classified Lambda as a global Variant of Interest on June 14th.
WHO said it has mutations that increase transmissibility.
WHO virologist Jairo Mendez-Rico told German news outlet DW: “So far we have seen no indication that the lambda variant is more aggressive.
“It’s possible that it has a higher rate of contagion but more work needs to be done on it.”
He added: “It is likely that SARS-CoV-2 will become more transmissible throughout the course of its evolution but not necessarily more damaging to the host.”
June 29, 2021 — A new coronavirus variant that has infected thousands in South America has now been discovered in the UK.
Classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 17,
the lambda variant has been detected in 29 nations — seven of them in Latin America.
In Peru, where it was first identified, the lambda variant now accounts for 82% of new infections. Now, 6 cases of this COVID-19 variant have been found in the UK, all linked to overseas travel.
COVID-19 Global Tracker
Coronavirus (COVID-19) (msn.com)
Public Health England (PHE) says that the Lambda variant has been designated as a variant under investigation (VUI) due to a rise in international cases and several notable mutations.
Virologist Pablo Tsukayama and his team at Lima’s Cayetano Heredia University have traced the evolution of the lambda variant in Peru for months after identifying it through genome testing.
“With 187,000 dead and the highest mortality rates in the world, we are the country that has struggled most when it comes to the coronavirus,” Tsukayama told DW news. “Therefore, it is probably no wonder that the new variant has gotten its start here.”
Alpha (B.1.1.7), beta (B.1.351), delta (B.1.617.2) and gamma (P.1) are categorized as “variants of concern” by the WHO. The classification indicates that they are more transmissible and more difficult to treat.
“So far we have seen no indication that the lambda variant is more aggressive,” the WHO virologist Jairo Mendez-Rico said. “It is possible that it may exhibit higher infection rates, but we don’t yet have enough reliable data to compare it to gamma or delta.”
PHE said tests were ongoing and there is currently no evidence this variant causes more severe disease or renders vaccines less effective.
A further 514 people were admitted to hospital in England with Covid-19 in the week up to June 21. Of these, 304 were unvaccinated.
Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 153,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
Source: ‘Lambda’ COVID Variant Discovered in UK (webmd.com)
Will the vaccines work?
There are three vaccines currently being rolled out across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech. the Oxford/AstraZeneca and the Moderna.
Over 45.7 million Brits have had a first dose, with 33.6 million now having had two doses.
It was recently found that vaccines were less effective against the Delta variant.
It is not yet known for sure how effective jabs will be against the Lambda variant.
Chilean researchers found the variant could be resistant to Covid vaccines.
Experts at the University of Chile who studied the virus in local healthcare workers who received two doses of China’s CoronaVac jab say Lambda is more infectious than the Brazilian and UK mutations.
They wrote in a paper yet to be peer reviewed: “Our data show for the first time that mutations present in the spike protein of the Lambda variant confer escape to neutralizing antibodies and increased infectivity,.
“It is possible that it may exhibit higher infection rates, but we don’t yet have enough reliable data to compare it to gamma or delta.”
COVID-19: The ‘unusual’ new variant that may be more infectious than Delta.
A worrying new strain of COVID-19 has been reported in the UK as scientists remain uncertain whether it could be resistant to vaccines.
Sky News Australia – ‘Scary time for the country’ as Delta strain spreads across Australia | Facebook
Global health experts are concerned an ‘unusual’ mutation of the Lambda variant could be resistant to vaccines.
The Lambda variant, formally known as C.37, was first detected in Peru,
and is responsible for more than 80 percent of the country’s cases.
A study at the University of Chile, Santiago, looked into the effect of Lambda on workers who had received two doses of China’s CoronaVac Vaccine.
‘Fear factor’ over COVID is ‘out of hand’ – YouTube
The Menzies Research Centre’s Nick Cater says the “fear factor” over COVID-19 is
“out of hand” after a poll revealed it is believed on average there is a 38 percent chance of dying from the Delta strain. Mr. Cater said it was clear to him the fear…
Results suggest Lambda is more infectious than Gamma and Alpha and is better able to escape the antibodies produced by vaccines.
“We observed an increased infectivity mediated by the lambda spike protein that was even higher than that of the D614G or the Alpha and Gamma variants,” the study wrote. “Our data show for the first time that mutations present in the spike protein of the Lambda variant confer increased infectivity and escape to neutralizing antibodies elicited by the inactivated virus vaccine CoronaVac.”
‘No correlation’ between lockdowns and preventing COVID deaths
The Institute of Public Affairs’ Gideon Rozner says there are several studies on the low efficacy of lockdowns in preventing COVID-related deaths but even common sense makes it clear there is “no correlation between lockdowns and COVID… Jeff Barrett, director of the COVID-19 Genomics Initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the UK said it had a rather “unusual set of mutations”.
Lambda has a unique pattern of seven mutations in the spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells, according to the Financial Times.
“One reason why it is hard to make sense of the threat from Lambda, using computational and lab data, is that it has rather an unusual set of mutations, compared with other variants,” he said.
Travel cap reduction due to a ‘lack of proper quarantine facilities’
Independent Senator Rex Patrick says the National Cabinet’s decision to reduce the travel caps for international arrivals has been brought about by a “lack of proper quarantine facilities”. On Friday Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced commercial…Pablo Tsukayama, a molecular microbiology doctor at Lima’s Cayetano Heredia University said the Lambda variant is spreading more quickly than previous variants.
“We had 200 Lambda infections in December,” Prof Tsukayama told DW News.
“By the end of March, it made up half of all samples taken in Lima. Now three months later, we are looking at more than 80 percent of all infections nationwide.
UK doctors want to keep some restrictions as COVID cases rise
Leading doctors in the United Kingdom are calling for some coronavirus prevention measures to remain in place to try and stop an alarming rise in cases. The call from the British Medical Association comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to…”Lambda has become the dominant variant in Peru in a very short period of time.”
The Lambda variant has since spread to 27 countries including the UK, causing concern as the country expects to return to pre-pandemic norms by July 19. More than 78 million vaccine doses have now been administered in the UK, and 63.4 percent of adults have received both doses.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ‘taking on the virus of cancel culture’ – YouTube
Study finds Delta strain in India 8 times less sensitive to COVID-19 vaccine antibodies – Dimsum Daily
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