Covid 2.0 facts

The U.K. has said the variant could be up to 70% more transmissible than the original strain of the virus.

Based on early data from the U.K., the new strain could “potentially be more rapidly transmissible than other circulating strains,” the CDC said.

Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said Monday that U.K. officials estimate that the mutation has caused an increase in the reproductive rate of the virus from 1.1 to 1.5. That means that each person infected with the variant is estimated to infect another 1.5 people.

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said it was unclear if the increase in spread in the U.K. is because of the mutation or human behavior.

“We’ve seen an estimate of a small increase in the reproductive number by the U.K.,” he said, meaning the virus is spreading faster, which could mean it is more contagious or spreads more easily in colder months. It could also mean people are getting lax about following public health protocols. “It remains to be seen how much of that is due to the specific genetic change in the new variant. I suspect some.”