WHO: it will take “several weeks” to better understand the new variant of COVID-19

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that it will take “several weeks”To understand the level of transmission and virulence of the new variant of the coronavirus B.1.1.529 and advises against restricting travel for now.

However, WHO experts, responsible for monitoring the evolution of COVID-19, must determine this Friday if the variant has to be classified as “worrying”, Explained its spokesperson Christian Lindmeier to journalists at a press conference.

On Thursday, a group of South African scientists announced that a new variant of COVID-19 had been detected in the country with a number “extremely high“Of mutations and with a”very high propagation potential”.

Following the announcement, several countries – including the United Kingdom and Germany – decided to close their doors to travelers from various southern African states.

A measure discouraged by the WHO, according to his spokesman this Friday.

“Let me reiterate our official position: WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a scientific and risk-based approach. In this phase, the application of travel restrictions is not recommended“, said Christian Lindmeier.

To facilitate public debate on the variants, the WHO It gives them a name based on the letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha, beta, gamma, delta …), more accessible to a non-scientific public and which also allows the country where the variant is first detected not to be stigmatized. The WHO has not yet given a new name to this new variant.

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, they mutate over time. Most mutations have little or no effect on the properties of the virus.

However, some mutations can influence, for example, the ease with which infections occur, the severity of the disease they cause or the effectiveness of vaccines.