8 Facts About B117, the New UK Coronavirus Strain That’s Causing Alarm All Over the World

The UK isn’t having a great time with Covid-19.

First, they attempted to get herd immunity against Covid-19 earlier in the pandemic but failed because they didn’t know the coronavirus well enough.

Then, they became the first country to begin mass vaccinations with the new Covid-19 vaccine and issued an advisory against the usage of the vaccine on people with a history of severe allergic reactions.

And now, they’re dealing with a mutated strain of Covid-19, the B117.

But what exactly is it, and why is it causing alarm all over the world?

Here are 8 facts about B117, the new UK coronavirus strain.

B117

The new coronavirus strain, B117, was announced by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson shortly after the UK began mass vaccination drives.

He said that the newly-detected strain is highly infectious, as high as 70% more transmissible than the current Covid-19 strain.

According to this report, the mutation is linked to a change in the structure of the protein spikes on the virus.

These spikes help it attach the coronavirus to human cells and with the mutation, the virus is able to infect cells at a faster rate.

According to the BBC, this new mutated coronavirus is alarming the authorities for three main reasons:

• this variant is unusually highly mutated, and these mutations affect a part of the virus likely to be important
• some of these mutations have been shown in the lab to increase its infectiousness
• it’s quickly replacing other versions of the virus

Landed London Into Lockdown Again

Previously, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had plans to ease restrictions during the five days close to Christmas, giving his people some much-needed break.

However, his plans had to change once they discovered B117.

The UK’s capital and other areas in southern England were previously under Tier 3 restrictions, the highest level of coronavirus restrictions.

But these areas will now be under Tier 4 restrictions.

This means that non-essential shops, hairdressers, and indoor leisure venues must close.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot proceed with Christmas as planned,” PM Johnson said.

The UK reported 33,364 new Covid-19 infections on Monday (21 Dec), bringing their total tally to 2,073,511.

17 Different Mutations

B117 is highly mutated, and unusually so. It has a total of 17 mutations.

One of the alterations is to the spike protein, which is what viruses use to enter our body’s cells.

The other mutation – an H69/V70 deletion, where a small part of the spike is removed, could render antibodies less effective at combating the virus.

It’s Not Deadlier

While it may be more infectious, there’s no evidence this new coronavirus strain is more deadly.

After all, if you’ve read a previous article on how virus mutation works, you’ll know that the more infectious a virus is, the less likely it is to be deadly since once the host dies, the virus will die as well and their goal of transmission stopped.

However, that doesn’t mean it comes without consequences.

The worry is that the increase in transmission would eventually overwhelm hospitals, leading to a shortage of staff, beds, and most importantly, ventilators.

Outcast By The World

The whole world is alarmed by UK’s newly-detected Covid-19 strain.

Here’s how bad it got.

India suspended all flights from the UK until 31 Dec, France was the first country to cut off all entry from anyone travelling from the UK.

They were followed shortly by as many as 26 other countries, including Germany, Poland, Sweden, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Italy, the Netherlands and more.

Yet, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has different thoughts about B117.

WHO Says There’s No Need for Alarm About New Coronavirus Strain from the UK

While conceding that the new strain of coronavirus seems to be more infectious, they say that currently, there is no evidence to prove that the new strain makes people sicker, or is more deadly than existing variants.

Noting that the coronavirus mutations are far slower than influenza, it’s likely that our current vaccines should be able to work against this new variant of the coronavirus, although checks are now being carried out.

One good thing about B117, WHO added, is that countries are, once again, taking Covid-19 precautions seriously again.

So, Will Vaccines Work Against B117?

Here’s where the experts disagree.

Some believe the changes will not impact the efficacy of vaccines, as vaccines train the immune system to attack different parts of the virus.

Moreover, Professor Ooi Eng Eong from Duke-NUS Medical School told TODAYonline that the vaccines currently in use contain the entire spike protein gene, meaning its efficacy will not be affected.

On the other hand, Dr Ling Li Min from Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital believes people should prepare for the worst if the new strain is able to withstand and overcome the body’s trained immune response.

S’pore Worried About The New Variant

The good news is, the newly-discovered variant of the coronavirus seems to be confined mainly to the UK and isn’t discovered in Singapore.

And yet, that isn’t stopping the Singapore government from being worried, and taking extra precautions, against B117.

The fact that the new variant is so much more infectious is a concern, Minister Lawrence Wong said.

Which is why Singapore, just like many other countries around the world, will close its borders to travellers coming to Singapore from the UK.

All long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to UK within the last 14 days will not be allowed to transit through or enter Singapore.

This also applies to travellers who recently obtained prior approval for entry into Singapore.

As for Singapore citizens and permanent residents returning from the UK, they’ll have to undergo a Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test upon arrival here, as well as a  14-day stay-home notice.

Additionally, travellers who are not Singapore citizens or permanent residents also have to take a PCR test within 72 hours before departure and present a valid negative test result before they can be approved to enter.

All these measures will kick in on Wednesday (23 Dec) at 11.59 pm.

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