A NEW variant of Covid-19 has been identified in the UK with samples dating back to December of 2020.
The Lambda variant of the virus - also known as C.37 - was initially identified in Peru and has since become the dominant variant in South America, accounting for more than 80% of cases.
It was designated as a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on June 14 and has been detected in at least 26 countries, including the UK.
It was then designated as a variant under investigation by Public Health England (PHE) nine days later, due to a rise in international cases and several mutations to the protein that allows the virus to attach to human cells.
What does the latest research say?
In a new study that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers have suggested that Lambda is more infectious than the Alpha variant first discovered in Kent and the Gamma variant first discovered in Brazil.
The study was based on samples from healthcare workers in Chile and also suggests that Lambda has a higher "immune escape" compared with the other two variants in relation to patients who had received China's CoronaVac vaccine. The study did not look at other vaccines.
What is the state of Lambda in the UK?
As of June 30, a total of eight cases of the variant have been detected in the UK, but this is likely to be an underestimate due to an operational issue on potential cross-contamination of a number of positive Covid-19 samples.
In the same report, 275,233 total cases of the Alpha variant were confirmed across the UK and 161,981 of the Delta variant first discovered in India.
None of the identified Lambda cases led to death within 28 days of first contracting the virus.
In its initial report of the first six cases that were identified, PHE said that four cases were from London, one from the South West of England and another was in the West Midlands. All were linked to international travel.
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