New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian says returned travellers carrying a mutated form of the COVID-19 virus have been detected in Australia, however, the new strain has not featured in the Northern Beaches outbreak.
Key points:
- Ms Berejiklian said "a couple" returned travellers carried the new COVID-19 variant
- She said the strain featured in the state's Avalon cluster did not have mutations
- A WHO official said overnight just one case had been detected in Australia
The coronavirus mutation has spread rapidly in south-east England, leading several European nations to ban travellers from the United Kingdom.
Asked about the new strain today at a press conference, Ms Berejiklian said two returned travellers from the UK who tested positive to COVID-19 were found to be carrying the mutated variant of the virus.
"We've had a couple of UK returned travellers with the particular mutations you're referring to," she said.
A World Health Organization (WHO) official told the BBC overnight that one case of the mutated virus had been detected in Australia.
WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said it had also been detected in the Netherlands and Denmark.
"We understand that this variant has been identified also in Denmark, in the Netherlands and in Australia — there was one case in Australia and it didn't spread further there," she said.
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The highly-contagious strain has sparked stricter lockdowns in London and the south-east England over Christmas, impacting 16 million people.
UK officials have said the new variant of the virus could be up to 70 per cent more transmissible than the original.
Dr Van Kerkhove said there was no evidence vaccines were less effective against the variant strain.
"What we understand is that we have increased transmissibility, in terms of its ability to spread," she said.
"There are further studies underway to really understand how much faster this spreads, and if its related to the variant itself or a combination of factors with behaviour."
"We understand that the virus does not cause more severe disease, from the preliminary information that they shared with us."
But she said there were a number of questions about the mutation that needed answers.
"More sequencing that can be done will be helpful to help us determine if this variant is circulating elsewhere," she said.
"The longer this virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to change. So we really need to do everything that we can right now to prevent spread."
The UK has more than 2 million cases and 67,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University data map.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEyLTIxL3VrLW5ldy1jb3ZpZC1zdHJhaW4tZGV0ZWN0ZWQtaW4tYXVzdHJhbGlhbi1yZXR1cm5lZC10cmF2ZWxsZXJzLzEzMDAyMzgy0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEzMDAyMzgy?oc=5
2020-12-21 01:27:00Z
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