Scientists admit they 'know nothing' about new Covid strain as it rips across UK
Top scientists have admitted they "know nothing about" a worrying new coronavirus variant called Pirola which is ripping through the UK.
Positive cases have been doubling almost every few days in the past weeks and the new fast-mutating virus is quickly taking over as England's dominant Covid strain.
It has made experts worry so much the World Health Organisation has placed it on its watch list after it was confirmed the variant has more than 30 different mutations, making it difficult for scientists to analyse properly.
It is thought that there will be a huge surge of cases from the BA.2.86 strain as the country heads into Autumn – as was seen when the Coronavirus Pandemic was at its most dangerous in 2020 and 2021.
Worryingly, Yale Medicine's infectious diseases specialist Scott Roberts confirmed to Yale Medicine that “much about it remains unknown”.
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He said: “Such a high number of mutations is notable. When Omicron hit in the winter of 2021, there was a huge rise in Covid-19 cases because it was so different from the Delta variant, and it evaded immunity from both natural infection and vaccination.
“The other concern is that this strain has been picked up in at least six countries, and the cases are unrelated. This suggests some degree of transmission in the international community that we’re not detecting," according to the Daily Star.
“The biggest concern has been the number of mutation differences with BA.2.86 – when we went from XBB.1.5 to EG.5, that was maybe one or two mutations, and they were expected. With every respiratory virus, as it spreads from person to person, it evolves gradually over time, but these massive shifts, which we also saw from Delta to Omicron, are worrisome.”
Last month, experts in the UK urged the Conservative Government to bring back mask-wearing mandates in certain settings, but this has so far fallen on deaf ears. The Daily Mirror has contacted the Department for Health and Social Care for a comment.
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