As 2020 comes to an end, Coronavirus 2.0 spreads across the globe

The mutant coronavirus strain is spreading. A few days after the UK reported multiple cases of the mutated virus, similar coronavirus strains have been discovered in multiple parts of the world. However,there are some countries where the identified variants are entirely different.

A new strain of the coronavirus is spreading —an advanced and scarier version. The first victim was the UK where the first case was detected in September. By November, the cases increased to a quarter of the total. Then, by December, two-thirds of the total infections were of the mutant virus.

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The infections are still rising,the lockdown is back andthere are travel restrictions where international flights have been banned and some countries are preparing themselves for the same.

South Africa

In South Africa, a new strain of the virus has caused a surge in infections. Officials say the variant is different from the one identified in the UKbut it carries the same mutations and is equally infectious.

On Thursday, the South African health ministry registered a record 14,305 cases of the new strain. It is infecting not just adults but younger people with no existing medical conditions and it isspreading quickly.

"In terms of how dangerous this virus is, this is what we know about the virus so far: it transmits quickly. So that is why it's actually responsible for a vast majority of the second wave in South Africa. The viral loads are higher in, that is the burden of virus in an infected individual is (inaudible) among people that are infected with this variant," saidDr John Nkengasong, Director of the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nigeria

In Nigeria,another mutant strain of the coronavirus has been discovered. This one's entirely different from the strains identified in the UK and South Africa but there's little evidence on whether its more infectious or potent than the original virus.

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The only thing evident is the spike in cases. The African Centres for Disease Control and Preventionsays the cases in Nigeria have risen by 52 per cent.

Israel

In Israel, the health ministry has detected three cases of the new strain in individuals who had recently returned from the UK. The infected have been sent to government-run quarantine centresbut the Israeli Prime Minister is not taking any chances. He has declared that the mutant strain could already be spreading.

"At the moment we need to assume that the virus is spreading here. The good news is that the assessments of the companies that are supplying us with vaccines are that there is a high – but not absolute – likelihood that these vaccines will deal with the mutation as well. We will know this in a few days; we have no guarantee that this will be the case. We need to wait in order to know this," said Israel's Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu.

Several other countries have reported cases of the new strain — such as Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in the UK. Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa.

In India,no cases of the mutant strain have been reported yet but the government is not taking any chances. At least six labs across India are conducting genome sequencing tests to detect the presence of the mutant strain.