32 more countries report new coronavirus variant first seen in UK

At least 33 countries have reported cases of the new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus which was first detected in the UK, reports The New York Times.

The new variant of the virus, called B.1.1.7, was first detected in the UK in September but had since spread rapidly. British authorities formally identified the new variant around mid-December.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited one academic - Dr Erik Voltz, a public health lecturer at Imperial College, London - saying the variant could be up to 70% more transmissible. But Volz has himself said that "it's really too early to tell" how transmissible it is, "but from what we see so far, it is growing very quickly."

Viruses are typically expected to mutate, and variants aren't necessarily more harmful. Experts have also said that Covid-19 vaccines should still work against the new variant, reports Business Insider.

The mutation has triggered some countries to close their borders and tighten travel restrictions even further.

The list of countries that have identified infections with the variant has been growing rapidly, and as of Friday includes — besides the United States, Britain and Turkey — Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims as part of a unified China.

In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has emerged, sharing one of the mutations seen in B.1.1.7., according to scientists who detected it. That variant, known as 501.V2, has been found in up to 90 percent of the samples whose genetic sequences have been analyzed in South Africa since mid-November.