In the United Kingdom, a new variant of COVID-19 was born which is said to spread much more quickly and easier, but according to the CDC it has no increased risk of death or severe illness. 

Some viruses can mutate over time and cause variants to occur, some variants die out as fast as they’re born, but this new one caught many eyes.

This new variant was discovered in September of 2020 in London and southeast England. It soon spread to other countries such as the United States and Canada.  

It has still be undecided whether this variant is different from other variants and how widely it will spread. What we do know is that the variant is highly contagious and can be detected by COVID tests, but does not respond to treatment. 

 “It does scare me a little bit, but I think I’ll be fine because I haven’t caught the original COVID strain yet, despite going outside many, many times a week,” said WJPS junior Hamza Ariyan. 

“Also, if there’s no risk of death, perhaps it can serve as a sort of natural vaccine? Since it prepares us.” 

“It could be worse than the current COVID so I feel kind of worried about it,” said Logan Ruiz, a junior at WJPS. 

“COVID-19 Virus” by Trinity Care Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0