The Kremlin is closely monitoring information about a new strain of coronavirus found in the UK. This was announced on Monday, December 21, by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.
“Of course, we are watching with the greatest attention, tracking information that comes from scientists in the UK on this topic,” he said.
The Kremlin spokesman also added that the decision to suspend flights from the UK should be made by the government’s operational headquarters.
Earlier this day, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that at the moment they do not record any effect of the new COVID-19 mutation on mortality.
Sylvie Briand, director of the UN Department of Pandemics and Epidemics, also believes that the new strain of coronavirus is unlikely to have an impact on the vaccine, but “more special research is needed.”
A new mutation of the coronavirus was discovered in the UK on December 14. In this regard, the government has tightened previously introduced restrictions.
As the Prime Minister of the country Boris Johnson said, a new strain of coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 identified in the south of Great Britain is more infectious. According to him, the initial signs of the spread of the new variant of the virus indicate that it is 70% more infectious than the original strain. Against the background of this news, a number of countries announced the suspension of flights with the UK.
The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, began at the end of December last year. The Chinese city of Wuhan became the hotbed of infection. For several months, the disease has spread to more than 210 countries of the world. On March 11, WHO declared a coronavirus pandemic.
More than 2 million cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the UK as of December 21, according to Worldometer. More than 67.4 thousand people died.