BUFFALO, N.Y. — There's a new strain of COVID-19 which is forcing several countries to ban trade and travel from the U.K.
Many are now asking, is it something Western New Yorkers should be worried about?
The 2 On Your Side Verify Team asked University at Buffalo Chief of Infectious Disease, Dr. Thomas Russo, to answer the most common questions viewers have sent us about the new strain.
How is this strain different?
"It has additional mutations that haven't been previously described," said Dr. Russo. "The new coronavirus has been slowly mutating since first discovered in Wuhan, but this new strain the U.K. has a larger number (of mutations) than usual, and therefore, investigators want to know how important that is, and how it'll have an effect on the biology of the virus."
Is this strain more contagious?
"We're not actually sure if it's actually more infectious," said Dr. Russo. "The good news, so far, is that there isn't any evidence that this new variant causes more severe infection."
Has this new strain been found in the U.S. yet?
"Given the travel throughout the world, I would not be surprised if it's already here," said the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci. "When we start to look for it, we're going to find it."
Governor Cuomo is now insisting all U.K. travelers be tested before arriving at JFK International Airport.
Three airlines (British Airways, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic) have all agreed to do that.
"If the U.K. believes the strain is so serious that Boris Johnson said the week before we're not going to cancel Christmas, and then closed parts of the U.K., it's serious my friends," said Cuomo. "At this point, it's our guess that the two new vaccines have a high likelihood of being efficacious against this variant."
Will the new vaccine work against this new strain?
Like Cuomo, Dr. Russo states that it is believed that the two vaccines will likely be effective against this strain.
"At this point, it's our guess that the two new vaccines have a high likelihood of being efficacious against this variant," said Dr. Russo.
Should we be concerned about this new strain?
Dr. Russo says "the short answer is we should not be concerned at this point. And it's perfectly understandable when people hear there is a new variant there's concern."
"I think the key message here in first, we should not be alarmed. We're still learning about this variant, secondly I think it's a nod to our technology that we so quickly identified these and studied them and get a sense of if there's any concern or not, and lastly, if we continue with our public health measures using masks, distancing, and hand hygiene, whether this new variant is more infectious or not will become irrelevant," Dr. Russo added.
