Following alarming reports of a highly contagious coronavirus mutation in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe has sealed itself off. According to British authorities, the new virus variant is up to 70% more contagious than the previously known form. It's also spreading rapidly, especially in London and southeast England. As a result, exit and travel restrictions in the country have been significantly tightened.
However, so far there is very little reliable information available about the mutation. So far, it can only be assumed that the current spike in new infections in UK has something to do with the new variant.
And even if the virus is spreading faster, that doesn't mean this variant is actually more dangerous.
Mutations are common
It's not unusual to discover such a mutation. In China, for example, where the pandemic originated in late 2019, a new variant of the pathogen was already circulating six months ago. In the summer, another variant spread rapidly from Spain to half of Europe. Viruses mutate all the time, and in most cases these mutations have no or only minimal effects.
Despite all attempts at isolation, the mutation now confirmed in southern England has also long since spread to mainland Europe and other parts of the world, according to Christian Drosten, virologist at the Charite Hospital in Berlin. The virus has been present in England since at least late September, he said. "We know now: it's already in Italy, in the Netherlands, in Belgium, in Denmark — even in Australia. Why shouldn't it be in Germany?"
How does the body react to mutations?
Normally, the human body is able to protect itself against viruses. It produces antibodies that defend against viral attacks and trigger immunity to the pathogen.
Scientists have said existing COVID-19 vaccines will still be effective, despite the mutation
However, if the pathogen has already mutated and the antibodies produced are programmed to an older version of the pathogen, then these antibodies are much less effective.
That's why humans regularly get the common cold. Our body has already formed antibodies for previous colds, but we haven't yet formed new antibodies for the newly mutated pathogen.
But there's no reason to panic — a virus doesn't necessarily become more dangerous through mutation. In fact, some mutations can also significantly weaken a virus.
How do mutations occur?
When the human body develops antibodies against a virus to prevent a disease outbreak, a virus must change its envelope, or outer surface, to avoid being recognized by the antibodies and immune cells. Thus, to survive, a virus must change its outer proteins and develop new variants.
Copying errors occur with each reproduction of the virus, changing the genetic code
To replicate, viruses use a host cell in an infected individual. When viruses infect such a host cell, they introduce genetic information from their nucleus into the infected cell. In this way, the body's cells reproduce millions of copies of the virus. However, small copying errors occur in each of these reproductions, and each of these errors also changes — or mutates — the genetic code of the virus.
Why does the new variant spread faster?
The SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19, like all coronaviruses, is an RNA virus with a mutation rate of nearly one mutation per month.
These different variants also explain why a pathogen causes waves of infections of varying severity in certain regions of the world, and why infections can also progress very differently in different people.
Mutations typically occur in the virus' surface proteins
The new variant registered in the UK has several mutations in the spike protein of the coronavirus. Due to a so-called gene deletion, it's missing two amino acids, which may make it easier for the virus to spread.
British researchers from the COVID-19 Genomics Consortium have just published a detailed profile of the new B.1.1.7 cluster, including a description of the gene deletion.
A similar deletion had already been observed in East Asia over the summer. There, however, the mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant caused milder infections because it apparently weakened the coronavirus.
Are the new vaccines now ineffective?
The United Kingdom was the first country in Western Europe to begin a large-scale vaccination campaign. But the newly registered mutation won't make the new vaccines ineffective. These vaccines are all designed to encode the information for the coronavirus spike protein in such a way that it will still stimulate the immune system despite the mutation, said virologist Christian Drosten.
Fortunately, it takes more than a few mutations for a virus to have its proteins altered so that they can bypass immune protection.
Nevertheless, we know from influenza, for example, that flu viruses are able to mutate very quickly and that vaccines must be readjusted each flu season to remain effective.
As a result, the COVID-19 vaccines will likely need further adjustment as well. But information gathered during the ongoing pandemic, and the newly built production capacity, will continue to ensure a rapid supply of affordable vaccines in the coming months.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'When the World Stood Still'
Award-winning photographer Wei Jian Chan has captured the surreality of locked-down London. Most of the works in his series are collages of two photos, showing for example contrasting graffiti, such as "Hope" and "Hoax." In this shot, cyclists wearing masks pass in front of posters created by artist Mark Titchner, stating "Please Believe These Days Will Pass."
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Key Workers'
"Not all heroes wear capes!" points out photographer George Coppock. His portraits celebrate the people from the Leeds area who kept the community functioning during the lockdown: the NHS medical staff, postal and supermarket workers, police teachers, farmers, officers and community volunteers. Portrayed above is Natalie, a maternity ward nurse.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Covered to D I S C O N N E C T'
In her series, photographer Flora Luna explores the idea that "There was already a filter between people and this world that now is so strong and so much thicker." The pandemic has not only added new physical filters in our interactions with others — such as computer screens, face masks or plexiglass separators — but has also reinforced boundaries with the real world, says the photographer.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'There's No Place Like Home'
Many families had to combine work and school from home amid the uncertainty of an unprecedented crisis: a nightmare. Claire Armitage's feeling of failure was intensified through social media posts featuring the "amazing projects" that enthusiastic parents were doing with their children. Through this series, the photographer found a way to develop a humorous bond with her teens during the lockdown.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Under Pressure'
When the virus outbreak put a stop to the work of landscape photographer Scott Stevens, he decided to work on photos from his own house, transmitting visually his "emotive response to the current crisis." The series "Under Pressure" combines a daily photo of a barometer with the sky as seen from Stevens' home.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Fake Street Photography'
During lockdown, street photographer Chris Silk decided to experiment with recreating the cityscape in his home, using figures from his father's model railway collection and various household objects set in strong shafts of natural light. "I don't think there's any such thing as a boring place to photograph," he said of the unusual working circumstances.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Lockdown wildlife'
Similarly, award-winning urban wildlife photographer Ian Wade decided to photograph his two-year-old daughter's favorite miniature plastic animals as if they were real-life subjects. He admits he "got many strange looks from people" while lying down on his stomach in a stream to achieve this shot of a toy tiger in the water.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'People I Met on a Walk One Day During Lockdown'
Documentary photographer Justine Desmond got in touch with complete strangers during a period otherwise associated with isolation: "One sunny day during the lockdown I went for a walk with my camera and approached people who caught my eye, and asked them if I could take their portrait and hear about their lockdown experiences," she explained of her series of photos taken from a two-meter distance.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Letters to the Loved Ones'
"As much as we are scared of what the virus will bring, we are craving for connection and missing someone more than ever," believes documentary photographer Akiko DuPont. This inspired her to ask people within walking distance of her home in South London to write a letter to someone they've been thinking of during the COVID-19 lockdown. Seven-year-old Sofia wrote to her grandmother in Canada.
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Lockdown Ballet'
Photographer Gemma Griffith's 11-year-old son is a ballet dancer. His training was halted by the lockdown, so he had to practice from home with his "gorgeous long hair flying around," she wrote. Griffith decided she should capture his sessions, "to remember this strange time and to show the stunning beauty of his movements in the ordinary setting of a family home."
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Photographic impression of the UK's coronavirus lockdown
'Project HOPE: Dancers in Lockdown'
Also inspired by ballet, Senem Peace photographed different dancers in lockdown. "We all found ourselves in this unusually hard situation that we couldn't have imagined. 'Fear' suddenly became the main actor in our lives," Peace wrote. She felt that the dancers were a fitting depiction of how "There is always hope. There is always a joy in life."
Author: Elizabeth Grenier