South Korea Reports its 1st Cases of Novel COVID-19 Variant

South Korea has confirmed its first cases of a more contagious variant of COVID-19 that was first identified in the United Kingdom.

South Korea's health authorities stated that it detected the country's first cases of more transmissible COVID-19 variant infections from entrants from Britain.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a statement that the three South Korean nationals who had stayed in London and arrived here on December 22 tested positive for the new Covid-19 strain, reports Xinhua news agency.

Coronavirus
Coronaviruses infect animals, humans, and birds. Human coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV cause respiratory distress and even death. The S protein is the infectious agent of the virus.

‘South Korea decided to suspend all flights from Britain between Dec. 23 and Dec. 31 and announced a plan ahead in the day to extend the halt for one more week through Jan. 7. ’

The three people were confirmed to be infected when they took tests after arrival and have been under quarantine.

Four other South Koreans, who arrived here on November 8 and December 13 from Britain, also tested positive for the virus and have been under investigation to ascertain if they were infected with the new variant.

Among them, one man in his 80s had posthumously tested positive.

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His three other family members were also infected with the virus.

The new strain, found in Britain, is known to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the old one.

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South Korea announced a plan to suspend all flights from Britain between December 23 to 31.

In the latest tally, the country reported 808 new cases, raising the total number of infections to 57,680.

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The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for two days.

Eleven more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 819.

Source-IANS