The sharp rise in the incidence of COVID-19 in the UK is associated with a new genetic variant of the coronavirus, which has been identified in the country and may be 70% more infectious, Johnson said, adding that British experts have not yet found evidence that the mutated virus could be more lethal.

"Although there is still considerable uncertainty on this issue, it can be 70% more infectious than the original version that we dealt with before. So far, this is only preliminary data, which can later be refined, but this is the best we have now. there is, and we must act on the basis of this information, since the spread of the infection is very fast, "said the head of government.

"We have no evidence that it causes more severe disease or higher mortality," Johnson added. So far, nothing also indicates that vaccines will not work against the new variant of the virus.

According to Patrick Wallance, senior scientific adviser to the British government, the new variant of the virus contains an unusually high number of mutations.

"Viruses mutate constantly, but in the new variant we see 23 changes in the genome, many of which are associated with changes in the spike protein produced by the virus," Vallance said, adding that mutations were noted in those parts of the genome that respond for the way the virus binds to cells and enters them.

Similar genetic variants of the coronavirus have also been previously found in other countries. The more contagious variety of coronavirus can also occur outside the UK, Wallance said, but there is a major outbreak in the kingdom that is caused by it. There is no information about whether the new variant of the virus originated in the UK or was imported from outside.

“Now it is very important for the general efforts to sequencing the genome of the virus to understand how it is changing and how much. Only by assessing the situation at the global level, we will begin to understand which parts of the genome of the virus are undergoing changes and in which parts of the planet this is happening. an important part of monitoring the virus, " Vallance said.

All vaccines target mostly spike protein, so some changes can render specific vaccine fully unusable.

Note that people who previously had COVID have immunity also for many internal proteins making is much harder for virus to avoid destruction.

VUI - 202012/01 (as UK calls virus) can be variant of COVID made by UK labs, contrary to original variant made by US or China.

New cameras

1. Fujifilm X-S10
2. Sony α7C
3. Nikon Z 6II
4. Sony α7S III
5. Canon EOS R6
6. Panasonic LUMIX S5
7. Olympus OM-D E-M1X
8. Sony α7 III
9. FUJIFILM X-T4
10. DJI Pocket 2

Used cameras

1. Sony α7 III
2. Canon EOS R
3. Nikon Z 6
4. Sony α7 II
5. Sony α7R III
6. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
7. Canon EOS 6D
8. Canon EOS 5D Mark III
9. Sony α6400
10. Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

There is a tremendous reluctance among the American people to let go of the notion that we sent men to the Moon. There are a couple of reasons for that, one of them being that there is a romanticized notion that those were great years – years when one was proud to be an American. And in this day and age, people need that kind of romanticized nostalgia to cling to.

But that is not the main reason that people cling so tenaciously, often even angrily, to what is essentially the adult version of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. What primarily motivates them is fear. But it is not the lie itself that scares people; it is what that lie says about the world around us and how it really functions. For if NASA was able to pull off such an outrageous hoax before the entire world, and then keep that lie in place for four decades, what does that say about the control of the information we receive? What does that say about the media, and the scientific community, and the educational community, and all the other institutions we depend on to tell us the truth? What does that say about the very nature of the world we live in?

That is what scares the hell out of people and prevents them from even considering the possibility that they could have been so thoroughly duped. It’s not being lied to about the Moon landings that people have a problem with, it is the realization that comes with that revelation: if they could lie about that, they could lie about anything.

David McGowan

Very interesting how we personally witnessed tremendous mass media power and corruption of science during COVID.