Up to six cases of Manaus variant of coronavirus detected in UK

[webfact]

Up to six cases of Manaus variant of coronavirus detected in UK

 

FILE PHOTO: Two women walk past a closed tea room, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Buckingham, Britain, February 23, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Boyers

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Up to six cases of a highly transmissible variant of coronavirus first identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus have been detected in Britain for the first time, English health officials said on Sunday.

 

Three cases were found in England and another three in Scotland.

 

Two of three cases found in England were from a household in the South Gloucestershire area that had a history of travel to Brazil. A third, currently unlinked, case has yet to be identified, Public Health England said.

 

The risk to the wider community from the Gloucestershire cases was considered low but as a precaution officials were moving quickly to deploy testing and increasing the sequencing of positive coronavirus samples from the area, PHE said.

 

The Scottish cases were not linked to the ones in England.

 

The P.1 variant detected in Manaus shares some mutations with a variant first identified in South Africa and it is possible that it might respond less well to current vaccines, PHE said.

 

Susan Hopkins, PHE's strategic response director for COVID-19, said Britain's advanced gene sequencing capabilities meant it was finding more variants and mutations than many other countries.

 

Late last year Britain detected a more transmissible variant of coronavirus that is believed to have originated near London and that led to a sharp rise in cases in the country and beyond.

 

"The important thing to remember is that COVID-19, no matter what variant it is, spreads in the same way. That means the measures to stop it spreading do not change," Hopkins said.

 

PHE and test and trace officials system were following up with all passengers on Swiss Air flight LX318 from Sao Paulo to London via Zurich, which landed at London Heathrow on Feb. 10, to test them and their households.

 

All three of the Scottish cases were identified in people who returned to the country via Paris and London who self-isolated for the required period of 10 days.

 

"Due to the potential concerns around this variant other passengers on the flight used by the three individuals from London to Aberdeen are being contacted," the Scottish government said.

 

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Jane Merriman and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-03-01

 

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[Rookiescot]

How did it get in?

We have taken back control of our borders after all.

[steve187]

3 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

How did it get in?

We have taken back control of our borders after all.

it got in because we are allowing some people, as in this thread to travel within the UK before going into a home quarantine, its time that all arrivals in the UK went immediately into a quarantine facility on entry

[Rookiescot]

Just now, steve187 said:

it got in because we are allowing some people, as in this thread to travel within the UK before going into a home quarantine, its time that all arrivals in the UK went immediately into a quarantine facility on entry

 

That should have been done a year ago.

[John Drake]

The UK seems to be the hub of variants.

[4MyEgo]

The amount of people getting vaccinated should shorten it's life as they we get closer to herd immunity, by mid to years end, you won't have a pandemic anymore, you will have a worldwide economic crash.

[from the home of CC]

they let one out of the airport with no records on contact details, could end up a very costly error indeed..

[shy coconut]

It seems that the missing person hadn't filled the form out correctly. 

Whether this means that the information provided was completely false, 

as even partial entries like a  name for example could be matched with 

flight manifests giving payment details, passport numbers etc.

 

Unless this person was a foreign national with no home address in the UK 

then surely they can trace this passenger. If not, why the hell is the UK still 

allowing random people to enter the country?

[Pique Dard]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Up to six cases of Manaus variant of coronavirus detected in UK

soon every town will have its own covid-19 variant, i bet

[Surelynot]

99% of all arrivals to the UK are trusted to self-quarantine.......what a joke......government's defense was "well Australia has a very strict quarantine regime and still has variants"....what?.....how is that an argument?

 

 

[vandeventer]

And we are expecting 6 million tourist from the UK by the end of the year?

[placeholder]

6 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

 

The amount of people getting vaccinated should shorten it's life as they we get closer to herd immunity, by mid to years end, you won't have a pandemic anymore, you will have a worldwide economic crash.

 

Just the opposite actually. Savings are rising because people are spending a lot less. There is a lot of pent-up demand that will be released once vaccinations reach a critical level.

[sead]

The more we try to vaccinate the more the virus is mutating. Virus mutates when they see an obstacle. So now we just have to wait for the Zimbieapocalyps

[Chomper Higgot]

16 minutes ago, sead said:

The more we try to vaccinate the more the virus is mutating. Virus mutates when they see an obstacle. So now we just have to wait for the Zimbieapocalyps

That’s factually incorrect.

 

The mutation of viruses is stochastic relying only on the quantity of available hosts in which to mutate.

 

Vaccination reduces the number of available hosts and thereby the probability of mutations arising.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Chomper Higgot

[onthedarkside]

A post with coronavirus misinformation has been removed.

[bluedoc]

7 hours ago, John Drake said:

The UK seems to be the hub of variants.

Muppet

[owl sees all]

9 minutes ago, bluedoc said:

Muppet

The new Kent strain is making Essex people feel a tad envious. Especially Dagenham lads.

 

We had the Cortina. Think it's time for a new model; the Ford Variant.

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

The new Kent strain is making Essex people feel a tad envious. Especially Dagenham lads.

 

We had the Cortina. Think it's time for a new model; the Ford Variant.

I was thinking of a weaker variant: The Reliant Robin.

[Natai Beach]

3 hours ago, shy coconut said:

It seems that the missing person hadn't filled the form out correctly. 

Whether this means that the information provided was completely false, 

as even partial entries like a  name for example could be matched with 

flight manifests giving payment details, passport numbers etc.

 

Unless this person was a foreign national with no home address in the UK 

then surely they can trace this passenger. If not, why the hell is the UK still 

allowing random people to enter the country?

The UK have botched up controlling covid every step of the way which is why they have the most deaths in Europe despite being an island, and a higher rate per million than even the USA.

This isn’t surprising news. 

[Natai Beach]

8 hours ago, John Drake said:

The UK seems to be the hub of variants.

Because they have such a high concentration of covid which allows a virus to mutate. This particular mutant variant appears to come from Brazil which is another country with a very high concentration of covid.
 

Both the British and the Brazilian leaders have contracted covid personally. Obviously they didn’t follow the medical advice or set a good example for their people to follow.
 

There are no “New Zealand” or “Thai” variants because the numbers are so low and outbreaks quickly controlled. Virologists correctly predicted a year ago that it would mutate if it was let to run rampant.
 

 

[4MyEgo]

10 hours ago, placeholder said:

 

Just the opposite actually. Savings are rising because people are spending a lot less. There is a lot of pent-up demand that will be released once vaccinations reach a critical level.

Disagree actually. Lots of people have lost their jobs, lots of people are in mortgage default, lots of businesses are in loan repayment arrears, lots have gone to the wall and lots are struggling to keep open, lots of residential investment properties are empty due to no immigration and international students entering countries due to boarders being closed, add to that no tourism, etc etc, etc.

 

On top of all of that the governments have given out stimulus packages, therefore borrowing or printing money as if to say, don't worry, we will save you, everything is ok, the above said, people are holding on to what they have to survive, I wouldn't call that spending a lot less, and those with mortgages and a job will be making ends meet and living in fear of tomorrow, e.g. will I have a job ?

 

Now what will happen if wages increase and interest rates rise, which is inevitable, just a matter of time IMO.

Edited March 1, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[VocalNeal]

8 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

The UK have botched up controlling covid every step of the way which is why they have the most deaths in Europe

 

...and have a very high population density only surpassed in Europe by Belgium and The Netherlands. 

[sharksy]

On 3/1/2021 at 3:12 PM, Natai Beach said:

Because they have such a high concentration of covid which allows a virus to mutate. This particular mutant variant appears to come from Brazil which is another country with a very high concentration of covid.
 

Both the British and the Brazilian leaders have contracted covid personally. Obviously they didn’t follow the medical advice or set a good example for their people to follow.
 

There are no “New Zealand” or “Thai” variants because the numbers are so low and outbreaks quickly controlled. Virologists correctly predicted a year ago that it would mutate if it was let to run rampant.
 

 

Because we are the best at detecting the mutations.