New study finds new COVID-19 version more infectious but not fatal

PARIS: A new research has found that the new version of the coronavirus is more infectious but it is not much pathogenic as compared to its previous form.

The global researchers said that a new version of coronavirus has spread from Europe to the United States, adding that the new mutation makes the virus more likely to infect people but does not seem to make them any sicker than earlier variations of the virus.

Erica Ollmann Saphire who works at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and the Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium, said, “It is now the dominant form infecting people.” He added, “We do know that the new virus is fitter. It doesn’t look at first glance as if it is worse.”

READ MORE: Researchers develop ‘self-cleaning’ face mask

“Our global tracking data show that the G614 variant in Spike has spread faster than D614,” theoretical biologist Bette Korber of Los Alamos National Laboratory and colleagues wrote in their report. “We interpret this to mean that the virus is likely to be more infectious,” they added. “Interestingly, we did not find evidence of G614 impact on disease severity.”

The new version seems to multiply faster in the upper respiratory tract the nose, sinuses, and throat which would explain why it passes around more easily, the researchers said.