Boris Johnson says new coronavirus strain may be deadlier

UK mutated coronavirus strain would increase mortality by 30 percent, chief scientific adviser said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a news briefing at 10 Downing Street on Friday that the new strain of the coronavirus may be deadlier. Johnson said that some evidence suggested the variant to be more deadly and transmissible

“In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant... may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” he said. However, the vaccines that are being used to innoculate people, are effective in both cases, old as well as the new variant.

The chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance said this means it would increase mortality by 30 percent but absolute risk of death will remain low. After examining several studies, New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group came to the conclusion that the mutated virus might be deadlier.

“I want to stress that there’s a lot of uncertainty around these numbers, and we need more work to get a precise handle on it. But it obviously is a concern that this has an increase in mortality as well as an increase in transmissibility,” Vallance said. Till now, more than 50 countries have detected the new strain while Britain still remains the dominant site.