Primer: Covid: How worrying are the UK, South Africa, and Brazil coronavirus variants?

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Tue, 2021-01-26 09:53 — mike kraft

Covid: How worrying are the UK, South Africa, and Brazil coronavirus variants? There is some evidence that the new UK variant may be more deadly, says PM Boris Johnson. BBC News

ALSO SEE: What you need to know about the coronavirus variants --Washington Post

New variants of coronavirus are emerging that are more infectious than the original one that started the pandemic.

There is some evidence that a variant now dominant in the UK may be more deadly too.

Scientists are urgently studying these mutated versions to understand what threat they pose.

What are these new variants?

There are many thousands of different versions, or variants, of Covid circulating.

Experts' concerns focus on a few:

A UK variant that has become dominant in much of Britain and has spread to more than 50 other countries
A South Africa variant that has also been found in at least 20 other countries, including the UK
A variant from Brazil

It's not unexpected that new variants have developed - all viruses mutate as they make new copies of themselves to spread and thrive.

Most of these differences are inconsequential. A few can even be harmful to the virus's survival. But some can make it more infectious or threatening.