A COVID-19 mutation is spreading rapidly across the UK, which has sent that country back to tier 4 lockdowns. Viruses constantly undergo mutations, but those mutations can also make them spread faster or become more deadly. While it doesn’t appear that this mutation is more lethal, it does appear to spread up to 70% faster than it does with other strains.
📍WORRISOME—Key things on new 🇬🇧 VUI-202012/01 #SARSCoV2 mutation:
—Likely more infectious, possibly up to 70% faster transmission.
—R0 increase of ~ +0.4
—23 unique changes, many in spike protein.
—Comprises 62% of recent London cases, 43-59% E/SE. 🧵https://t.co/6ijDao2Wdn pic.twitter.com/uvJQVO7vu6
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 20, 2020
In response, Israel has immediately revoked all entry permission previously granted to foreigners in the UK and has instructed airlines to deny boarding to all non-Israel citizens flying from the UK to Israel.
Airlines have also been instructed to inform returning Israeli citizens that they will be taken to government supplied COVID hotels for quarantine. Whether that will actually happen is yet to be determined, as Israeli quarantine edicts like this often take several days until they are actually implemented, if they ever are implemented.
Are you traveling from the UK to Israel? Share your experience in the comments!
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22 Comments On "Israel Bans Foreigners From Flying From UK To Israel Due To COVID-19 Mutation, Will Send Returning Citizens To COVID Hotels For Quarantine"
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so the vaccine that moderna and pfizer just came out with wont protect against from this new strain of corona?
You cannot jump to that conclusion.
Very likely, the newest strainS still share enough of the components that the vaccine identifies, as to create an immune response that provides protection.
The newbissue isn’t the vaccine, rather that the newer strains of Covid virus are more communicable and may cause worse infections.
Hopefully, the vaccines will cover all.
( N.B. I’m just a ‘country surgeon’ and i defer to my ID brothers for confirmation…. infectious disease docs)
Why did you assume that? They have said Shoreditch that they don’t believe that to be the case.
It likely won’t protect against all strains, and more likely will become a seasonal vaccine. Viruses evolve, so the vaccines must change too. But not to fear. While coronaviruses and influenza are different, this is what happens with the flu as well time and again.
Do you have any basis for this?
COVID mutations have been nothing like influenza mutations.
They are assuming the vaccine will still work. Gd willing they are right.
Yes, there have been many mutations and it appears to work on all of them. Hopefully this will be no exception.
They are assuming it will work 95% of the time. It’s like playing Russian roulette with 20 chambers and one bullet.
23 changes is minimal. This is a relative very stable virus due to it’s proofreading enzyme. The proper term is isolate not mutation. I tried to follow links to sky news, and to another and didn’t actually find the data, but I only looked for two minutes on mobile. News articles sometimes get about 80 percent of things correct. The article itself says no evidence that vaccine that targets spike protein won’t work. I think there is about 10000 scans of the full genome of sars-cov-2. That’s how you track variants. One variant becoming more flourishing than another is most likely because that one variant got a push from those infected with those people’s physical interactions compared to another variant, i.e. not following the standard non pharmaceutical interventions available.
If Eric Feigl-Ding can use the word mutation, I think I’m OK.
It seems to me the ban should be expanded from those “flying from the UK” to those “present in the UK in the past X weeks/months.” Otherwise it’s an imperfect prophylactic.
There are talks about shutting down TLV airport.
But even if they don’t shut it down, with all countries about to become RED, it will effectively kill most of the traffic
https://twitter.com/ItayBlumental/status/1340596519947427840?s=19
If I had a buck for every time the corona cabinet wanted to close TLV…wake me up when it happens.
Doesn’t matter if it stays open.. the minute everything turns red most of the capacity will disappear
Sure, but even in April, UA still flew daily to TLV.
I have a virgin atlantic scheduled for Tuesday. I paid part miles and part cash. Can I get a full refund for that flight now?
Thanks
BREAKING: Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu announced: “We closed the skies to all flights from the UK, Denmark and South Africa. These are the countries where the mutation is present. If necessary we will add more countries.”
It’s to late it’s probably by now in every country
Today flight from U.K. has to choose
GO to covid hotels for 2 weeks w police escort direct from plane
Or pay for a return on same plane
Non citizens couldn’t even board
Read paper
Oh it was implemented today
No wonder I got such a good deal to Capetown. ():-)
I doubt they’ll let me take one of the last (for the time being) nonstops to ORD after I return from CPT earlier in the day. My dream come true, I always wanted to get a police escort to my fifth Corona hotel. Last they made me take a taxi at my own expense.
The estimate of greater transmissibility is based on modeling and has not been confirmed in lab experiments. Transmission of the traditional virus was already killing thousands, and no one was too concerned about it.