India’s coronavirus tally surpasses 24 mln as mutant spreads across globe
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| India’s coronavirus tally surpasses 24 mln as mutant spreads across globe |
The Indian B.1.617 variant has been found in eight nations in the Americas, including Canada and the United States, said Jairo Mendez, an infectious diseases expert with the World Health Organization (WHO).
"These variants have a greater capacity for transmission, but so far we have not found any collateral consequences," Mendez said. "The only worry is that they spread faster."
Among the infected were travellers in Panama and Argentina who had arrived from India or Europe, while in the Caribbean, the variant was found in Aruba, Dutch St Maarten and the French department of Guadeloupe.
It has spread to the Himalayan nation of Nepal and also been detected in Britain and tiny Singapore.
Public Health England said the total number of infections due to the variant had more than doubled in the past week, to 1,313 across Britain.
“We are anxious about it - it has been spreading,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, adding that meetings would be held to discuss measures. “We’re ruling nothing out.”
Singapore said it was limiting social gatherings to two people and putting a halt to dining in restaurants.
About half of the nearly 150 passengers booked to return on Australia’s first repatriation flight from India were denied boarding because of positive test results, an Australian government official said.
