A mutant coronavirus has emerged, even more contagious than the original, study says
Source: LA Times
Scientists have identified a new strain of the coronavirus that has become dominant worldwide and appears to be more contagious than the versions that spread in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study led by scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The new strain appeared in February in Europe, migrated quickly to the East Coast of the United States and has been the dominant strain across the world since mid-March, the scientists wrote.
In addition to spreading faster, it may make people vulnerable to a second infection after a first bout with the disease, the report warned.
(snip) Wherever the new strain appeared, it quickly infected far more people than the earlier strains that came out of Wuhan, China, and within weeks it was the only strain that was prevalent in some nations, according to the report. The new strain's dominance over its predecessors demonstrates that it is more infectious, according to the report, though exactly why is not yet known.
Read more:
https://news.yahoo.com/mutant-coronavirus-emerged-even-more-110046843.html
This is the variant that hit New York. Analysis of reports from Wuhan before the lockdown suggests that SARS-Cov-2 had an R0 of 5.7. A more contagious strain is mind-blowing.
