WHO Emergency Meeting on Novel Coronavirus Strain

An urgent WHO meeting has been announced for 26 November. Representatives of the organization intend today to discuss the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, found in South Africa.

As reported TV channel CNBC, experts from the World Health Organization are monitoring the situation, but it is not yet known how much vaccination with existing drugs can protect against infection with a new strain, and what treatment methods will be effective in this case. WHO COVID-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove says:

“We don’t know much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is that when there are so many mutations, it could affect the behavior of the virus. “

British scientists November 24 announced a new strain a coronavirus called B.1.1.529. It is potentially more dangerous than all others, as it contains the largest number of mutations. Scientists warn about the risk of its spread. Now 10 cases of the “newest” strain have been found – in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong. Experts suggest that it is more resistant to the vaccine. According to experts, this option may be worse than all others, including the now dominant strain in the world “Delta”.

The new variant contains 32 mutations, some of which indicate its high transmissibility and resistance to vaccines, and also has more changes in the spike protein than all other COVID-19 variants. François Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, believes the new strain is likely to evade antibodies better than delta does. An outbreak of mutations suggests that B.1.1.529 could have appeared in a person with a weakened immune system (for example, a patient with HIV or AIDS).

WHO, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, is studying the effect of mutations in the COVID-19 B.1.1.529 strain, identified in South Africa, on diagnostics, vaccines and medicines. The organization is extremely concerned that such a number of them can affect the course of the disease.

And Britain since November 26, due to a new strain of coronavirus, cancels flight with six African countries – flights to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa and Eswatini are stopped. Sajid Javid, the head of the British Ministry of Health, notes that the decision was made because of the strain B.1.1.529 identified there, which is potentially more infectious than the others. Scientists suggest that it may be the most dangerous variant of infection.

In August, a new strain of coronavirus, which carries two mutations at once, discovered in Japan… Scientists reported that the new Delta strain carries two mutations at once. One of them is characteristic of the one in the Alpha variant. ” The level of infectivity has not yet been determined. It is noted that the infected patient did not travel outside the country, so the mutation probably appeared in Japan. An “updated” type of delta variant was discovered in August in a patient in a hospital. It carries the L452R mutation, as in the delta variant, and N501S, which resembles N501Y, which is similar to the Alpha strain. First discovered in India, Delta has triggered an outbreak in Japan and around the world due to its increased infectivity.

Nevertheless, Japan has successfully coped with the challenge of the pandemic. Stelios Preserakos, Greek teacher in the Land of the Rising Sun, told on Japan’s victory in the battle against the coronavirus. The rapid decline in coronavirus cases is a cultural matter, the teacher says. According to him, the mask played a decisive role in this, its widespread use

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