US Army scientists at Walter Reed begin examining genetic profile of new UK 'Super-COVID' strain to see if it's vaccine resistant - as deaths in the US increase by 1,618 and new cases rise by 195K
Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are now examining the genetic profile of the new 'Super-COVID' strain currently spreading in the United Kingdom to see if it is vaccine resistant, officials said Sunday.
Dr. Nelson Michael, the body's director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research, told CNN they hope to know in the coming days if that is a concern after studying its sequences since Thursday.
A growing list of European Union nations and Canada barred travel from the UK on Sunday and others were considering similar action, in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England from spreading to the continent.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday slammed the 'reprehensible' inaction as the US 'continues to let in six flights a day' from Britain. He told reporters: 'Right now, this variant in the UK is getting on a plane and flying to JFK. Right now. Today. Literally six flights a day. And all it takes is one person.'
Dr. Michael said they still expect the approved vaccines to work but added: 'It stands to reason that this mutation isn't a threat, but you never know. We still have to be diligent and continue to look.'
His teams are first carrying out computer analysis to 'allow us to gauge how much concern we should have', adding: 'Other teams around the world are doing this analysis, too.'
The US has authorized the use of two vaccines - by Pfizer and Moderna. The country on Sunday saw 1,618 more deaths and new cases rise by 195,000. More than 319,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 in the US, with new daily infections regularly topping 200,000 and deaths hovering at around 3,000 people every 24 hours.
There are 113,663 people hospitalized with the virus; a slight decline, the COVID tracking project reports.
Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, pictured, have begun examining the genetic profile of the new 'Super-COVID' strain currently spreading in the United Kingdom to see if it is vaccine resistant, officials said Sunday
Nearly eight million more COVID-19 vaccine doses are to ship across the United States on Monday- two million of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and 5.9 million of the Moderna shot that was greenlighted on Friday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70% more transmissible than existing strains appeared to be driving the rapid spread. But he stressed 'there's no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,' or that vaccines will be less effective against it.
The country's chief scientific advisor, Dr. Patrick Vallance, added: 'Our working assumption at the moment from all of the scientists is that the vaccine response should be adequate for this virus.'
CDC advisor Dr. William Schaffner said: 'Even with mutations, the virus essentially stays the same.'
Canada announced its own ban Sunday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that for 72 hours starting at midnight Sunday, 'all flights from the UK will be prohibited from entering Canada.'
He added that travelers who arrived Sunday would be subject to secondary screening and other health measures. A follow-up statement from the government said cargo flights were not included in the ban.
France banned all travel from the U.K. for 48 hours from midnight Sunday, including trucks carrying freight through the tunnel under the English Channel or from the port of Dover on England's south coast.
French officials said the pause would buy time to find a 'common doctrine' on how to deal with the threat, but it threw the busy cross-channel route used by thousands of trucks a day into chaos.
The Port of Dover tweeted Sunday night that its ferry terminal was 'closed to all accompanied traffic leaving the UK until further notice due to border restrictions in France.'
Eurostar passenger trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were also halted.
Germany said all flights coming from Britain, except cargo flights, were no longer allowed to land starting midnight Sunday. It didn't immediately say how long the flight ban would last.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he was issuing a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight 'out of precaution.' 'There are a great many questions about this new mutation,' he said, adding he hoped to have more clarity by Tuesday.
El Salvador said it would refuse entry to anyone who has visited Britain in the preceding 30 days.
The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year. Ireland issued a 48-hour flight ban. Italy said it would block flights from the U.K. until Jan.6, and an order signed Sunday prohibits entry into Italy by anyone who has been in the U.K. in the last 14 days.
And the Czech Republic imposed stricter quarantine measures from people arriving from Britain.
The US currently bars most non-American residents who have been in Europe in the previous 14 days; those restrictions have been in place since March.
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller (L), gets his first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 'there's no evidence to suggest the new strain is more lethal' or that vaccines will be less effective
In a tweet late Sunday the World Health Organization said that it was 'in close contact with U.K. officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant' and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned.
The new strain was identified in southeastern England in September and has been spreading in the area ever since, a WHO official told the BBC on Sunday.
Dr. Nelson Michael, the body's director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research, told CNN they hope to know in the coming days if that is a concern after studying the genetic sequences since Thursday
'What we understand is that it does have increased transmissibility, in terms of its ability to spread,' said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19.
Studies are under way to better understand how fast it spreads and whether 'it's related to the variant itself, or a combination of factors with behavior,' she added.
She said the strain had also been identified in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia, where there was one case that didn't spread further.
'The longer this virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change,' she said. 'So we really need to do everything we can right now to prevent spread.'
Viruses mutate regularly, and scientists have found thousands of different mutations among samples of the virus causing COVID-19. Many of these changes have no effect on how easily the virus spreads or how severe symptoms are.
British health authorities said that while the variant has been circulating since September, it wasn't until the last week that officials felt they had enough evidence to declare that it has higher transmissibility than other circulating coronaviruses.
Vallance, the British government's chief scientific adviser, said officials are concerned about the new variant because it contained 23 different changes, 'an unusually large number of variants' affecting how the virus binds to and enters cells in the body.
Officials aren't certain whether it originated in the U.K., Vallance added. But by December, he said it was causing over 60% of infections in London.
Air travelers check in for their flights in John F. Kennedy International Airport last month. New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday slammed the 'reprehensible' inaction as the US 'continues to let in six flights a day' from Britain
Eurostar passenger trains from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were halted Sunday
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for U.S. surgeon general said Sunday that the emergence of the new strain doesn't change the public health guidance on precautions for reducing the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands.
'While it seems to be more easily transmissible, we do not have evidence yet that this is a more deadly virus to an individual who acquires it,' Vivek Murthy said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'There's no reason to believe that the vaccines that have been developed will not be effective against this virus, as well.'
Britain has seen over 67,000 deaths in the pandemic, the second-highest confirmed toll in Europe after Italy. Europe as a whole has recorded nearly 499,000 virus deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University that experts believe is an undercount, due to limited testing and missed cases.
After he spoke, videos emerged online showing crowds of people at London's train stations, apparently making a dash for places in the U.K. with less stringent coronavirus restrictions. Health Secretary Matt Hancock called those scenes 'totally irresponsible.'
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