“We have learned that, in addition to faster spread … there is some evidence that the new variant … may be more associated with higher rates of mortality,” Johnson said at a news conference on Friday.
“Both the vaccines we are currently using remain effective against both the old and this new variant,” he added.
Vallance said patients hospitalized with the new variant did not appear to have a higher risk of death compared to those hospitalized with the original form of the virus.
However, if the data is viewed in terms of … everyone who tested positive, there is some evidence that there is an increased risk for those who have the new variant compared to the old one [one.]”
Vallance added that the evidence was not yet strong and the data remained uncertain.
“If you took … a man in his sixties, the average risk is that for 1,000 people who have become infected, about 10 is expected to die from the virus. With the new variant, for 1,000 people infected, about 10. 13 or Fourteen people can be expected to die, ” he said Friday.
Vallance added, “That’s the kind of change for that kind of age group, an increase from 10 to 13 or 14 in 1,000 and you’ll see a similar relative increase in risk across the different age groups as well.”
The new variant was first discovered in South East England and is believed to be between 30 and 70% more transmissible than the previous one, Vallance said.
The UK recorded an additional 1,401 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, government data showed on Friday – up from Thursday’s daily increase of 1,290 deaths.
The total number of people in the country who died within 28 days of a positive test now stands at 95,981.
Vallance said Friday that there was “growing evidence” that the existing Covid-19 vaccines would work against the British strain, but issued a warning about the variants discovered in Brazil and South Africa.
“We are more concerned that they have certain characteristics, meaning they may be less susceptible to vaccines,” he said, adding that researchers needed “more clinical information” about the variants.
Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty said on Friday that there were “clear signs of improvement” in both the number of people infected with the coronavirus in England and in the hospitalization data.
The number of new Covid-19 infections registered in the UK in the last 24 hours has also risen compared to Thursday’s figure. A total of 40,261 additional cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of cases registered in the UK since the start of the pandemic to 3,583,907.
Public Health England has continued to call on citizens to adhere to government guidelines, warning again on Friday that “not everyone with coronavirus is showing symptoms” and urging people to stay at home.
The UK remains strictly blocked.