Coronavirus Variant Is Indeed More Transmissible, New Study Suggests

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

A team of British scientists released a worrying study on Wednesday of the new coronavirus variant sweeping the United Kingdom. They warned that the variant is so contagious that new control measures, including closing down schools and universities, might be necessary. Even that may not be enough, they noted, saying, “It may be necessary to greatly accelerate vaccine rollout.”

The study, released by the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has not yet undergone review by a scientific journal. The study compares a series of models as predictors of data on infections, hospitalizations and other variables; other researchers are studying the variant in laboratory experiments to determine if it is biologically distinct.

The study found no evidence that the variant was more deadly than others. But the researchers estimated that it was 56 percent more contagious. On Monday, the British government released an initial estimate of 70 percent.

Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the study, said that it presented a compelling explanation of the past and potential future of the variant.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/coronavirus-variant-is-indeed-more-transmissible-new-study-suggests/ar-BB1cbYdU?ocid=NL_ENUS_D1_20201224_6_2

[In_The_Wind]

1. Will we need a new or different vaccine to fight the mutated/variant?

[CaptainTruth]

5. I've seen sources saying the newly-developmented vaccines are effective against it.

[In_The_Wind]

6. Thank you

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Hoping It's Less Pernicious

They say there's no evidence it's more deadly, but if 25 people get it, instead 16, still leads to far more dead.
UK's case rate curve got way steeper since mid October, but the death rate curve is much less steep.
Also, they're at record highs in daily cases but not so with daily deaths.
I hope that suggests that this more transmissible form is less dangerous. I hope!

[Hugin]

4. Pernicious is a good word for it.

A more vs less pernicious variant.

[Hugin]

3. I'm really unsure what's meant by '56 percent more contagious'.

That's one of those statements like 'it's butterier'.

Is the R0 higher? How is this determined?

It sounds more like a statistical determination at this point rather than a physical manifestation. Of course, it does have a different PCR.

[BainsBane]

7. It's a news story on a scientific study

and the journalists never get these studies right.