New coronavirus variant not out of control: WHO
The new coronavirus variant learned in Britain with a higher transmission rate isn't yet uncontrollable and will be contained using existing measures, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
“We've had a higher (contamination price) at different points on this pandemic and we’ve got it in order,” WHO’s emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a press conference.
“So this situation isn't in that sense uncontrollable. But it can't be left to its own devices.”
British Well being Secretary Matt Hancock had previously claimed the latest variant was “uncontrollable”, with British officials saying it was 70percent extra transmissible than the main strain.
“The measures we currently have in place will be the correct measures,” Ryan said.
“We must do what we've been doing, we may just simply have got to do it with a bit more intensity and for just a little longer to be sure we can bring this virus under control.”
Roughly 30 countries shut their borders to persons traveling from Britain or South Africa - where another variant has emerged - to avoid any further spread.
“In some senses, it means we have to function harder,” Ryan said. “Even if the virus has become a little bit better in spreading, the virus can be stopped.”
