Britain identified more than 1,000 people who were infected with a new fast-spreading Covid-19 variant, predominantly in the south of the country where it could be connected to a surge in cases.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday that the World Health Organisation had been notified of the scientific findings.
"We have identified a new variant of coronavirus, which may be associated with the faster spread in the south-east of England," Mr Hancock told parliament.
"Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants," he said, as he announced that London and other regions would be placed under the toughest Tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday.
The WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said there was no evidence yet that the strain behaved differently to existing types of the virus.
"We are aware of this genetic variant reported in 1,000 individuals in England," he said in Geneva. "Authorities are looking at its significance. We have seen many variants, this virus evolves and changes over time."
Mr Hancock said it was highly unlikely that the vaccines currently being developed would not work with the new strain.
The original strain, detected in China's Wuhan city in December 2019, is the L strain. The virus mutated into the S strain at the beginning of 2020. That was followed by V and G strains. Strain G mutated yet further into strains GR, GH and GV. Several other infrequent mutations were collectively grouped together as strain O.
Mr Hancock said the new variant was being cultured at the British Army's Porton Down medical and bioscience laboratories.
G strains are now dominant around the world. One specific mutation, D614G, has become the most common variant.
The most recent mutation to emerge is the GV strain, which has so far been isolated to Europe. Experts there say it is unclear whether the strain is spreading because of any transmission advantage or because it affected socially active young adults and tourists over the summer.
The Covid-19 virus has so far mutated slowly and scientists have been divided on the implications of some of the mutations.
Some experts said that the D614G variation made the virus more transmissible, but other studies contradict that.
The changes so far have not resulted in strains that were likely to be resistant to vaccines in development.
However, experts who have watched influenza and HIV mutate over the years, evading vaccines, say that future mutations of SARS-CoV-2 remain unknown.
The best chance of avoiding changes that make the virus impervious to a vaccine remains curtailing its spread and reducing the opportunities it has to mutate.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
