The new coronavirus strain has sent alarm bells ringing across the world as the year ravaged by Covid-19 pandemic comes to end and we enter 2021 with the concern of the mutating virus that spreads at a far greater pace. After the new coronavirus strain showed up in the UK, several countries, including India, have suspended travel from the country.

As more nations join the ban on flights from UK, scientists have urged caution and said although the new Covid strain spreads more rapidly, there is no evidence to say it is deadlier or has severe symptoms.

A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, recently emerged in the UK, sowing panic around the world. Many countries, including India, have cut off air links to the UK as a result. The new variant is up to 70% more transmissible than the original SARS-CoV-2 strains, making it more fearsome. But a lot more needs to be understood about it.