Copyright: PA Media
The coronavirus variant first discovered in Kent may be up to twice as deadly as previous variants, new research suggests.
The more infectious variant, which swept across the UK at the end of last year before spreading across the world, is between 30% and 100% more deadly, a new study has found.
Epidemiologists from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol said the data suggested the variant was associated with a significantly higher mortality rate among adults diagnosed in the community, compared with previously circulating variants.
Robert Challen, from the University of Exeter, lead author of the study, said: "In the community, death from Covid-19 is still a rare event, but the B117 variant raises the risk.
"Coupled with its ability to spread rapidly, this makes B117 a threat that should be taken seriously."
Researchers looked at death rates among people infected with the new variant and those infected with other variants.
When the discovery of the Kent variant was first announced in December last year, officials said there was no evidence to suggest it caused a higher mortality rate.
In January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to early research suggesting the variant was in fact associated with greater mortality - but this was then downplayed by scientists.
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2021-03-10 13:30:00Z
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