Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference on the situation of the coronavirus (COVID-2019) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Denis Balibouse | Reuters
New, more contagious mutated variants of the coronavirus are ‘very problematic’ and could cause more cases and hospitalizations if the spread of the virus is not immediately suppressed, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.
The World Health Organization was notified at the weekend of a new Covid-19 strain discovered in Japan, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, said during a press conference. The National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan said on Sunday that it had discovered a new coronavirus variant in four travelers arriving from Brazil.
The institute apparently has some of the same mutations as other strains discovered in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Although the virus mutations are highly contagious, humans do not appear to be getting sick from the virus, health experts said.
The Japanese Institute of Infectious Diseases said it was difficult to immediately determine how contagious the new strain was and the effectiveness of vaccines against it.
As viruses spread, they will mutate over time as the points on their surfaces change, says the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. However, the CDC warns that it is not yet known how wide the new mutations are.
“The more the virus spreads, the greater the chance of new changes to the virus,” Tedros said at WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, pointing out that the new variants look more contagious than previous strains.
“It can cause an increase in cases and hospitalizations, which is extremely problematic for health workers and hospitals that are already near the breaking point. This is especially true where social and societal measures have already broken down,” Tedros said.
This is an evolving story. Come back later for updates.