UK strain of coronavirus may affect more young people

The British strain of coronavirus is not only more contagious, but also appears to be capable of infecting more people under the age of 20, have found . researchers at Imperial College London and other research groups

Scientists have confirmed that the new British strain of coronavirus is more contagious. Infectiousness is dangerous primarily by an increase in R (the coefficient of spread of the virus) by about 0.7 units, writes Bloomberg. R corresponds to the number of people that one sick person infects, and the threshold R=1 separates the rise of a pandemic from its attenuation. In December in the UK, this figure ranged from 0.9 to 1.4, depending on the region.

In addition, scientists are inclined to believe that the new strain affects young people under the age of 20 more effectively. However, so far this is more of a hypothesis: the fact is that the study was conducted when the lockdown was in effect in the country, but schools remained open at the same time. Perhaps this is what contributed to the greater number of infections among young people.

The study also found that social distancing measures that were effective against earlier strains of the virus were not enough to contain the British strain.

• A new mutation of the coronavirus became known in mid-December. According to preliminary estimates, it can be 70% more contagious than usual. Like many countries, Russia has imposed a ban on air travel with the UK. It will apply to all New Year holidays, until January 12.

Find out more

What you need to know about coronavirus mutations in order to adequately assess the situation, The Bell explained here . We wrote about why the new restrictions will not contain the spread of the “British” strain and what is its true danger here .