Did Christmas this year get sour with the new Coronavirus?
The recent viral developments in Britain have led to many people speculating whether or not the world is heading towards a new pandemic. The strains of the new coronavirus, which came to Britain from South Africa are under research, and the results may take a while to come by.
It is oftentimes said that the boat drowns on the banks. This may just come to fruition with the new strain of the coronavirus family. First and foremost; we are NOT experts in virology and are making this post because we believe the world may head towards another pandemic if the information is not propagated positively. Curbing disinformation is our main priority with this article.
While Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sputnik V may have proved to be a beacon of hope in finally defeating this dungeon boss, this pandemic just may have been a skipping stone to a more difficult boss battle. The new coronavirus has soured Christmas this year by locking down most of the UK alongside several restrictions in other European countries.
The first case of the new strain was found in London in mid-September and by mid-December, upwards of 1000 cases have been discovered and the pandemic is raging, to say the least. By mid-November, a quarter of all the new cases in London were credited to the new strain and this has lead to the Prime Minister announcing a fresh lockdown in the urban centers of his country to stop the spread.
Several countries in the past week have made it clear that they are not willing to accept any new travelers from the island nation.
The symptoms of this new disease are said to be pretty similar to the ‘old’ ailment but a final consensus is yet to come by. VUI 202012/01 as is the new coronavirus called, has the following symptoms:
- Fever
- Dry cough
- Loss of taste and smell
- Fatigue
- Loss of appetite
- Headache
- Diarrhea
- Mental confusion
- Muscle pains
UK Prime Boris Johnson said that the new virus is up to 70% more transmissible than previous variants, although there was “considerable uncertainty”. While the scientific consensus is unclear on this one, it certainly is more dangerous, and more care would be warranted if this becomes a pandemic.
So, are the vaccines for Covid-19 effective against VUI 202012/01? They ‘might’ be! Since the new coronavirus comes from the same family as the old one, their genetic makeup is similar albeit with a few differences. VUI 202012/01 transmutes quicker than its elder cousin so by the time a vaccine is developed for this virus, it might have taken a different route altogether. This is mere speculation since just two months of data are not enough to direct the development of a vaccine, so take it with a grain of salt.
All said and done, this new coronavirus strain is going to be more dangerous based on current models. Our advice: follow what the scientific community has to say about this and act responsibly and safely.
Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a 2020 part two.
