Thread by @Edourdooo

Covid-19: New mutation of Delta variant under close watch in UK - BBC News bbc.co.uk/news/health-58…

This AY.4.2 subvariant has only recently been recognised by virologists who follow the genetic evolution of Delta but it already accounts for almost 10% of UK cases.

If the preliminary evidence is confirmed, #AY42 may be the most infectious coronavirus strain since the pandemic started.

The UK is already offering booster doses of Covid vaccine to higher risk people ahead of winter.

There is no suggestion that a new update of the vaccine will be needed to protect against any of the existing variants of the pandemic virus.

The AY.4.2 has yet to be observed driving any recent increase in case numbers in Britain, straitstimes.com/world/europe/w…

In Israel, the variant was detected in an 11-year-old boy, who underwent a Covid-19 test at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv, upon his return from Moldova.

Health leaders warned late Tuesday that the U.K. risks "stumbling into a winter crisis" if the government does not enact its "Plan B,"
cnbc.com/2021/10/20/uk-…

The U.K. is currently recording between 40,000 and 50,000 new Covid cases a day and the number of hospitalizations and deaths is steadily rising.

Noting that hospitalizations and death rates were much lower than in previous peaks of the pandemic, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said that "we are learning, I think, to live with the virus."

The U.K.'s hesitation in vaccinating younger teenagers, something that other countries in Europe and the U.S. did much earlier, and the return to schools in September, have also been cited as reasons for the sharp rise in cases.

UK Covid cases could hit 100,000 a day - BBC Newsnight