Daily Current Affairs Article 24th December 2020: Health Ministry has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Epidemiological Surveillance and Response for a new variant of SARS- CoV 2 virus, which has been reported by the UK government to World Health Organization (WHO).
The new variant Covid-19 strain named ‘VUI-202012/01’ has been discovered in the United Kingdom last week and could be the reason behind the sharp rise in cases in the country.
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This variant is estimated by European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) to be more transmissible and affecting younger population.
This variant is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations. One of the most significant mutation is in the spike protein that the virus uses to bind to the human ACE2 receptor.
Changes in this part of the spike protein may result in the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily between people.
The SOP describes the activities to be undertaken at the point of entry and in the community for all International passengers who have travelled from or transited through UK in the past four weeks from 25th November to till date. Any reference to testing in this SOP implies RT-PCR testing only.
