Even as the United Kingdom health secretary Matt Hancock revealed that more than a 1000 patients have been detected with a new variant of covid 19, Health Emergencies Proggramme Executive Director at World Health Organisation (WHO) Mike Ryan has said there is no evidence yet that may lead to further panic.
WHO Health Emergencies Programme Executive Director Mike Ryan said in a press brieifing, “We are aware of this genetic variant I think reported in about 1,000 individuals in England, and the authorities in the UK under Matt Hancock’s leadership are obviously looking at the significance of this.”
“Does this make this virus more serious? Does it allow the virus to transmit more easily? Does it in any way interfere with diagnostics? Would it in any way interfere with vaccine effectiveness? None of these questions have been addressed yet, and we have no information to suggest that any of that is the case,” Ryan added.
Meanwhile, India has reported a 22065 fresh covid cases and 354 deaths in past 24 hours. The tally for covid cases in India has now reached 99,06,165. In the capital, Delhi, 1,376 new covid cases and 60 deaths pushed the total number of covid deaths to 10,074.