Thread by @Telegraph

🦠 Covid-19 may have become more contagious as it mutated

🇺🇸 One variant of #coronavirus is now one of the most dominant in Houston accounting for 99.9% of cases there

😷 By failing to control the spread of #COVID19, it's able to mutate faster

~thread

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…

A US study concluded that a mutation that changes the structure of the “spike protein” on the surface of the virus may be driving the outsized spread of that particular strain

To date, researchers have documented 5,085 genome sequences of the coronavirus at Houston Methodist

'Covid 19 has become more deadly in Houston as it mutated'

Do you think this statement is true or false?

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…

Researchers found that people infected with this strain (known as D614G) had higher "loads" of virus in their upper respiratory tracts, which allows a virus to spread more effectively.

However, they did not find that it was more deadly #coronavirus

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…

'Social distancing and wearing a mask is not as effective on the new strain of #coronavirus'

Is this claim true or false?

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…

#Coronavirus could be responding to interventions.

😷 The study found that although mask-wearing, washing your hands and social distancing measures are barriers to transmission, as the strain becomes more contagious, it is statistically better at getting around those barriers

🇬🇧 But what about the UK? Has the new strain reached Britain?

'D614G is increasing in frequency at “an alarming rate” in the UK'

Is this claim true or false?

A similar study published in the UK had similar results.

Scientists found that D614G was increasing in frequency at “an alarming rate” and had rapidly become the dominant Covid-19 lineage in Europe and had then taken hold in the US, Canada and Australia

'The new mutation appears to be outdistancing all of its competitors'

Is this claim true or false?

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…

This could be true.

A tiny tweak in the spike protein of the dominant variant switches an amino acid from aspartic acid to glycine.

This small change, which affects three identical amino acid chains, might enhance the virus's transmissibility

🧪 Time to find out the truth.

Studying mutations in detail could be important for controlling the pandemic. It might help:

🔴 To pre-empt the most worrying of mutations that could help the virus to evade immune systems, vaccines or antibody therapies

telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/2…