Scientists have claimed that the new mutant coronavirus strain may be 30 per cent more deadly than the old one. Researchers from the government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) say the new strain will likely kill 30 per cent more people than the old one, ITV's Robert Peston reported today.
The new strain is already more easily transmitted than the older one one too so it is infecting more people in the UK. The mutation, which was first discovered in Kent, is being blamed for a surge in cases in the last month.
Professor Neil Ferguson, who sits on NERVTAG, told Peston today: "It is a realistic possibility that the new UK variant increases the risk of death, but there is considerable remaining uncertainty.