It is possible that the new variant seems to infect young people more because the research was conducted at a time when there were closures but schools remained open.
Photographer: OLI SCARFF / AFP through Getty Images
Photographer: OLI SCARFF / AFP through Getty Images
The new variant of coronavirus that has emerged in the UK is more transmissible and appears to affect a higher proportion of people under the age of 20. according to a report from Imperial College London and other scientific groups.
The scientists wrote that the disturbing mutation has “a substantial advantage in transmission” and is related to “epidemic growth in almost all areas.” The researchers found that it can increase the rate of reproduction of the virus, which indicates how many people infect a patient to 0.7.
“This will make control more difficult and further accentuate the urgency of deploying vaccination as quickly as possible,” said Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial who has worked on modeling the outbreak.
The study found that social distancing measures that worked against previous strains of the virus were insufficient to control the spread of the new variant. The government had previously said the new strain was up to 70% more transmissible than other versions, without providing documentation.
The researchers used statistical tools to assess the link between transmission and the frequency of the new variant across the UK. The data has informed government pandemic planning in recent weeks, Ferguson said.
It is possible that the new variant appears to infect young people more because the research was conducted at a time when there were closures, but schools remained open, the scientists said.