New Strain of Coronavirus — Here’s All You Need to Know
It wasn’t long after we got the thrilling news of the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out finally, we got hit by the news of a new strain of Coronavirus in the UK.
On 14th December 2020, a new strain of Coronavirus was found in the United Kingdom (UK), which appears to be more contagious than the existing COVID-19 virus. SARS-CoV-2 variant is allegedly 70% more contagious. In the past week, COVID-19 case rates nearly doubled in the UK and 60% of the new infections attributed to the new variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The new strain of the virus is named VUI-202012/01. The question is, from where did this new strain come from? The answer is mutation.
What is mutation?
Mutation might sound like a very rare thing that might happen to a species very rarely, but it is actually very common in nature. Mutations are happening in all living organisms, all the time. Mutation is one of the key factors of evolution. Without mutation, there will be no evolution. It happens in humans, plants, animals and even viruses. Without mutation, we human’s wouldn’t have existed. So what is a mutation?
