U.K. Warns New Coronavirus Variant Could be More Deadly

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (U.K.), Boris Johnson, said on Friday that the new variant of the novel Coronavirus, which caused a global pandemic, could be resulting in a higher mortality rate, Reuters reported.

However, Johnson noted that studies have shown that the two vaccines that have been approved in the U.K. are effective against the new variant as well as the original novel virus.

The new variant is believed to have originated in the U.K.

The expected mortality rate for the new variant is about 13-14 for every 1,000 cases, versus 10 in 1,000 for the original virus.

Another concern is that the new variant of the virus is believed to be more transmissible.

Although it was promised by the British government that the country will return to normal by April, Johnson recently refused to rule out the possibility of third lockdown in the U.K. to curb the spread of the virus continuing until next summer.

More than 5.3 million people in Britain have received their first dose of the vaccine, and the government targets reaching 15 million by mid-February.

The U.K. has so far recorded about 3.5 million Coronavirus cases, and about 96,000 death cases.