The coronavirus or COVID-19 is mutating and the patients can be dying faster than the first wave, the SAGE papers published yesterday stated. The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) stated that the discoveries can mean that the coronavirus is becoming more infectious.
But the scientists said the UK did not have the ability for studying the mutations and understand whether they can be harmful, as reported by the Mail Online. Scientists at the NERVTAG that works with the scientific advisory group of the government, SAGE, stated there is a chance that these changes can increase the ability of the speed of coronavirus.
"In the UK, researchers are currently monitoring whether mutations are occurring, but are not systematically checking whether these mutations 'matter'. This is an important gap in our knowledge. We currently lack the capability in the UK to rapidly and systematically assess the biological significance of detected genetic change," the paper stated as reported by the Mirror.
COVID-19 Causing Deaths in UK
As per the data by the COVID-19 Clinical Information Network (CO-CIN), the patients of the deadly disease in the UK are currently dying faster than the first phase of the pandemic. Till August 1, patients were dying at an average of 13 days after symptoms like cough, loss of smell and taste, and high temperature were witnessed.
But since then the period fell to just seven days on average, 7.5 men and six days in case of women. But, the drop in time was explained by the falling death rate, with more patients making recovery and thus fewer deaths after long fights with the virus.
The UK has witnessed a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks. As per experts, one in 130 people in England had the virus in a week. The Office for National Statistics has given an estimation of between 407,500 and 459,300 people in the community who had the disease at any point in the week to October 16.
This comes after the Chief Scientific Adviser warned that England can be witnessing 53,000 to 90,000 new cases per day. The total number of coronavirus cases in the UK is over 830,000 and as per the latest data over 44,000 people have lost their lives due to the deadly disease.
