Several scientists stepped in to assuage concerns and said there is no evidence yet that the variant is more deadly. “Staying cautious and following good practices should be sufficient (to tackle the variant)," Agrawal told PTI, adding that the UK, where the variant was identified first, has not reported any clinical indication of the variant being more severe. "It (new strain of Covid-19) is just fresh, otherwise, it is the same virus and not much of an issue. Also, the same defences work to contain the UK strain too - masks, sanitization, and social distancing," Sowpati tweeted on Tuesday. Agrawal concurred with Rath, saying “no sweeping changes were needed" in RT-PCR diagnosis due to the new variant.

Source: Mint December 29, 2020 12:33 UTC