From: slider@anashram.com

Scientists have detected a new Covid-19 variant called B.1.1.529 and are working to understand its potential implications. About 100 confirmed
cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Botswana.

B.1.1.529 has a very unusual constellation of mutations, which are
worrying because they could help it evade the body’s immune response and
make it more transmissible, scientists have said. Any new variant that is
able to evade vaccines or spread faster than the now-dominant Delta
variant may pose a significant threat as the world emerges from the
pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/25/what-do-we-know-about-the-new-worst-ever-covid-variant

Dr Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security
Agency, said the R value, or effective reproduction number, of the
B.1.1.529 variant in the South African province of Gauteng, where it was
first found, was now 2 – a level of transmission not recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, before restrictions began to be imposed. For an
R of anything above 1, an epidemic will grow exponentially.

Early signs from diagnostic laboratories suggest the variant has rapidly increased in Gauteng and may already be present in South Africa’s other
eight provinces.

In a regular daily update on confirmed cases nationally, the National
Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 2,465 new Covid-19 infections, slightly less than double the previous day’s infections. The
NICD did not attribute the latest resurgence to the new variant, although
some leading local scientists suspect it is the cause.

South Africa has confirmed about 100 specimens as B.1.1.529 but the
variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong. As many as 90% of
new cases in Gauteng could be B.1.1.529, scientists believe.

Hong Kong recorded two infections in people who served a period of
quarantine at the Regal airport hotel. A traveller from South Africa was
found to have infected the person in the room next to him. The hope will
be that the quarantine period will have stopped it spreading further.
Israel said it had detected its first case of the variant, in a person who
had returned from Malawi.

How does it compare with other variants?
Senior scientists on Thursday evening described B.1.1.529 as the worst
variant they had seen since the start of the pandemic. It has 32 mutations
in the spike protein, the part of the virus that most vaccines use to
prime the immune system against Covid. That is about double the number associated with the Delta variant. Mutations in the spike protein can
affect the virus’s ability to infect cells and spread, but also make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen.

The Delta variant was first detected in India in late 2020 but has spread around the world, causing an increase in case rates and deaths. Other coronavirus variants include Alpha (which originated in Kent in the UK),
Beta (formerly known as the South African variant) and Gamma (originally
found in Brazil). It has been suggested, after a drop in cases in Japan,
that variants can “mutate themselves out of existence”.

What new restrictions are being imposed?
South Africa will be placed under England’s “red list” travel restrictions
from midday on Friday – affecting between 500 and 700 people who typically travel to the UK from South Africa each day through airlines including
British Airways and Virgin.

The ban will also cover flights from Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini
and Zimbabwe. Scotland confirmed all arrivals from the countries must self-isolate and take two PCR tests from midday on Friday, while anyone arriving after 4am on Saturday will need to stay at a managed quarantine
hotel.

Recent arrivals from southern Africa will also be tracked down and offered tests in an effort to avoid the introduction of the variant.

Israel also announced it would ban its citizens from travelling to
southern Africa – covering the same six countries as well as Mozambique – and bar the entry of foreign travellers from the region.

Germany, Japan, France, Bahrain and the Czech Republic are among other countries that have suspended flights. The European Commission plans to
stop flights from the region.

England’s travel red list had remained empty since the final seven
countries were removed on 1 November. South Africa had been removed on 11 October, meaning vaccinated travellers were able to visit once again
without having to quarantine in a hotel on their return.

What does the new variant mean for the UK and for Christmas?
It is too early to tell. Scientists in the UK are working around the clock
to understand more about the variant. Because it has recently emerged, scientists do not yet have evidence of its transmissibility or ability to
evade vaccines. With a month to go until Christmas, there will be concerns
that the variant, if it is allowed to spread, could trigger the need for further restrictions.The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said there were
“very live discussions” about adding further countries to the red list.

It could be a few weeks before scientists have complete information about
the variant and how serious a threat it may pose to the world.

### - new strains are 'bound' to emerge considering the fucked-up way it's
been dealt with up until now? (iow: very badly/clumsily!) plus with no one really having spelled-out as yet just exactly what "horrific" or
"worst-ever" means, it's obviously too late to slam shut the barn door
now? it's already everywhere! duh!

the question being: will it just fizzle out like some other strains before
it, or will it persist to become the new scourge of mankind that resets everything back to day-1?

place yer bets! (or hold yer breath while waiting to find out,
whichever...)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)