Since November 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) has reported a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in London and southeast England.
This rapid increase in cases has been linked to a different version—or variant—of the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).
Public health professionals in the UK are evaluating the characteristics of this new variant.Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time.
Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and start infecting people. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic.The virus that causes COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, a large.