UK launched Global Platform to track new COVID-19 variants

January 28, 2021

The United Kingdom has launched a New Global Platform to track the new COVID-19 variants. The platform will provide world-leading genomics expertise from the country to identify the new variants of the virus.

Highlights

The platform was launched as part of the UK’s Presidency of the G7.
In the line, the UK also put forward the vision for a stronger, more collaborative and effective global health system to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure that the international community is better prepared for future threats.
The platform will help to better understand the virus. It will also help to understand how it spreads.
The platform is led by the Public Health England (PHE) that also worked with NHS Test & Trace, academic partners and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) SARS-CoV-2 Global Laboratory Working Group.
It will also be led by the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) and will involve the PHE laboratories and staff.

New Variant of Corona Virus

The Variant of Concern 202012/01 is the new variant of the Corona virus (SARS-CoV-2). The new variant is also known as lineage B.1.1.7, 20I/501Y.V1 and it is commonly known as UK coronavirus variant since the virus emerged in the UK. The new variant is 36%–75% more transmissible than wild-type SARS-CoV-2. The virus was first detected in November 2020 from a sample taken in September 2020. The virus started to spread quickly in mid-December.

SARS-CoV-2 virus

SARS-CoV-2 is the abbreviation for “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2”. The virus caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

It is a contagious disease which is caused by SARS-CoV-2. The first case of the disease was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The disease spread across the world from which the world is still recovering. Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable which begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus.

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