SA variant

Yes, it is Urmstongran. So I for one will not engage if it turns into an immigrant bashing thread.

GagaJo

Yes, it is Urmstongran. So I for one will not engage if it turns into an immigrant bashing thread.

?? me too.

This article from the New Scientist dated today, 2 February 2021, confirms that the B.1.352 South Africa variant is already seeded around the world so it could have arrived in the UK from anywhere. Scientists in Cologne, where more sequencing is carried out, have found that 5% of infections are the B.1.352 variant.

www.newscientist.com/article/2266429-uk-coronavirus-variant-gets-nastier-as-south-african-variant-spreads/

Other countries have been making people arriving in the country quarantine in hotels at their own cost for months. We still aren’t implementing this till next week I believe. Too little too late as usual.

Oh dear, is Johnny Forriner upsetting the apple cart again? Ladies, have you heard yourselves?

It's a virus, its sole purpose is to infect and mutate, it's what viruses do. It's not choosy how it does it. These variants take the name of the country in which they first appear - it doesn't mean that the same mutation wont occur completely independently elsewhere in the world around the same time. It evolves and adapts, it doesn't have a passport or a nationality, it doesn't wave a flag, it's not patriotic. It certainly isn't xenophobic and it couldn't give a flying hoohah about Brexit. Once it exists, it will evolve and do what viruses do - infect indiscriminately.

And for the love of all that's holy don't use Aus and NZ as examples. They are not comparable to Europe or the UK.

The UK has the best genome sequencing facilities in the world, based mainly just outside Cambridge. My best friend has been involved with the work at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. It's because our scientists are so good that we pick up new variants quickly. It could very well have been active in other countries but wasn't identified.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/27/worried-covid-variants-mutations?platform=hootsuite&utm_campaign=HS_YoursCambridge

It's good to see the Wall Street Journal recognising the excellence of Covid-19 Genomics UK and the NHS.

www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-u-k-became-world-leader-in-sequencing-the-coronavirusgenome-11612011601

NellG

Oh dear, is Johnny Forriner upsetting the apple cart again? Ladies, have you heard yourselves?

It's a virus, its sole purpose is to infect and mutate, it's what viruses do. It's not choosy how it does it. These variants take the name of the country in which they first appear - it doesn't mean that the same mutation wont occur completely independently elsewhere in the world around the same time. It evolves and adapts, it doesn't have a passport or a nationality, it doesn't wave a flag, it's not patriotic. It certainly isn't xenophobic and it couldn't give a flying hoohah about Brexit. Once it exists, it will evolve and do what viruses do - infect indiscriminately.

And for the love of all that's holy don't use Aus and NZ as examples. They are not comparable to Europe or the UK.

No, the UK couldn't hope to copy Australian and New Zealand, but there's such a thing as "best practice" and the UK could have learnt something.

For a start, it could have forgotten about the silly idea of aiming for population (aka herd) immunity. Sweden and Brazil both tried - with disastrous consequences. The countries which are now getting back to normal aimed for zero Covid, which meant getting the transmission rate right down and acting quickly when there were isolated outbreaks.

Growstuff - please believe that my comment was not in support of how the government have chosen to act. At this juncture I would deem calling them incompetent as a compliment.

It was a comment on how people perceive viruses and endow the function of a virus with a national identity. I believe we would all handle our own safety better if we stopped blaming other people/nations etc for the virulence of a virus. Viruses gonna be viral.

NellG

Growstuff - please believe that my comment was not in support of how the government have chosen to act. At this juncture I would deem calling them incompetent as a compliment.

It was a comment on how people perceive viruses and endow the function of a virus with a national identity. I believe we would all handle our own safety better if we stopped blaming other people/nations etc for the virulence of a virus. Viruses gonna be viral.

I do believe you and I agree with you. I read somewhere that some international body (WHO maybe?) is trying to think of a way of classifying variants in a way which doesn't include geographical locations - like hurricanes perhaps.

wrt the comment about Captain Tom's hospital I frequent that hospital and I have always thought it was a weird entrance to a hospital and you have to walk for miles when you get inside and it's so confusing. Turns out I must have been going through some side door or something as I certainly have never been through the main entrance they showed on the news and I don't know where it would be RIP Tom

It could be that the "South Africa" variant emerged as a result of a mutation in the UK - or anywhere. It was responsible for a surge of cases in South Africa, but it doesn't mean that it started there.

IMO shutting down borders is justified as a control measure as an extension of people staying at home. The virus only thrives because it's transmitted. Unlike bacteria, it cannot survive on its own. It's not even alive in the first place. The less human contact takes place, the more chance there is of bringing down infection rates and being more in control of outbreaks.

It could be that the "South Africa" variant emerged as a result of a mutation in the UK - or anywhere. It was responsible for a surge of cases in South Africa, but it doesn't mean that it started there.

Yes, the name given to a virus or a variant is often the place name of where it was noted first even though it could be mutating in more than one area/ country.

I don’t see what the alternative is. The mutations do have proper scientific names but it would be very difficult to call them that on eg the news. Would be a bit like calling all plants and animals by their Latin names.

Me neither Maybee

I think we're used to it with flu viruses eg Spanish flu (did not originate in Spain), Hong Kong flu, Australian flu etc
Alternatively after the species it came from before it mutated to pass from person to person, eg bird flu, swine flu.

They all have specific names as does eg this South African variant, SARS-CoC-2 20H/501Y.V2 or B.1.351 - a bit of a mouthful.

CoV not CoC - sorry!

The virus itself could have started in China but not how it had been reported coming from bats.
If you remember all those young boys who were trapped in a cave in Thailand over 2 years ago, a cave containing bats and they'd been trapped for a couple of weeks without any ill-effects.

The clusters of how the virus rapidly spread in China has always puzzled me and it hasn't ran its course such as a pandemic would do given the millions that inhabit China and its surrounding areas as it's all but gone.
As it stood there were just over 4,600 deaths in mainland China ?

The W.H.O are quite in order visiting laboratories where the virus first took hold because I'm of the firm belief that something leaked.