Municipal workers in personal protective equipment look on as passengers from United Kingdom arrive at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, in Mumbai on December 22, 2020. New restrictions were put in place by authorities from 12:00 am for UK flights in the light of the new Covid-19 strain found in the country, which is said to be a super spreader and is claimed to be 70% more transmissible. Indian government has temporarily suspended all passengers' flights from the United Kingdom. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi/ Geneva, December 22 (IANS): In view of a mutated variant of coronavirus detected in the UK and elsewhere, the NITI Aayog clarified on Tuesday that there is no need to panic.
Niti Aayog's Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul said that the mutated variant of novel coronavirus does not increase the severity of Covid-19 disease or impact the propensity of vaccines available.
"As per the information available from the UK where the mutated variant was detected, it does not increase the severity of the disease, deaths and rate of hospitalisation. Besides, the studies also suggest that the available vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 are effective on the mutated strain as well," he said.
"So there is no need to panic," Paul added.
A new variant of SARS-CoV 2 virus, which is under investigation, has been reported by the UK government to the World Health Organization (WHO). This variant is estimated by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) to be more transmissible and affecting the younger population.
Scientists in the UK have observed 17 changes or mutations in the latest variant. One of the most significant mutations is the 'N501Y' mutation in the spike protein that the virus uses to bind to the human ACE2 receptor.
Changes in this part of the spike protein is responsible for the virus becoming more infectious and spreading further easily between people.
The UK government has reported the variant to be 70 per cent more infectious.
To contain the mutated variant from infiltrating the indian population, India has temporarily banned flights from the UK. The suspension of flights from the UK will come into effect from December 22 midnight and will continue till December 31.
No significant impact on vaccines: WHO
Geneva, Dec 22 (IANS) Despite a number of mutations so far of the Covid-19, none of them, including the new mutant variant found in the UK, has made a significant impact on the susceptibility of the virus to any of the currently used therapeutics, drugs or the vaccines under development, according to World Health Organization (WHO) experts.
Addressing a briefing here on Monday, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said the novel coronavirus has mutated at a much slower rate than the influenza virus, the latter having required that its vaccine strains be reviewed and revised each year based on the circulating strains prevalent that year, Xinhua news agency.
"So far, even though we've seen a number of changes, a number of mutations, none has made a significant impact on either the susceptibility of the virus to any of the currently used therapeutics, drugs or the vaccines under development," she said.
The WHO chief scientist emphasized that it was important to continuously monitor what's happening to this virus, with the focus on bringing transmission down and getting it as low as possible.
"Because the more viruses you have in circulation, the more chances of mutation and the more such variants that can arise. The bottom line here is to keep the virus transmission low and keep circulation low.
"Don't allow it to get out of hand and spread in the population. That way, we can keep the mutations down," Swaminathan added.
Meanwhile, Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said that even with the latest UK variant, "there's zero evidence at this point that there's any increase in severity associated with this disease".
He reiterated that no variants have yet established themselves as "having any higher level of severity, or invading our diagnostics, or hiding from vaccines, or the effectiveness of vaccines"
5 passengers from UK test positive
Further, the government has also ordered mandatory RT-PCR tests for the patients arriving from the UK. As per the latest information, 5 passengers were found to be Covid-19 positive on Tuesday.
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has asked state governments to send the samples of the passengers who tested positive on arrival from the UK to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune or any other appropriate lab for genomic sequencing study.
The genomic sequencing study would determine if the Covid patients are carrying the existing strain of SARS-CoV-2 or the mutant strain which was discovered in the UK.
If the samples indicate the presence of the new variant, the patient will continue to remain in a separate isolation unit while necessary treatment as per the existing protocol will be given, the Ministry said.
