A sign reads ‘Covid-19 Cases Very High in London. Stay at Home’ near a highway in London. /Bloomberg
By Kaci DeMarest | KTAR
A prominent Arizona health expert says a mutation of the coronavirus recently discovered in the United Kingdom may already be in the United States but it’s not worrying.
Arizona Public Health Association Executive Director Will Humble told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Gaydos & Chad Show on Tuesday that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mutates all the time, but the latest mutation is believed to make it easier for the virus to transmit.
“It’s decent evidence that the change has made this virus potentially easier to transmit because it makes it easier for the virus to latch on to your cells in the respiratory system and latch onto the part of the cell that lets it in so it can replicate its RNA,” Humble said.
The United Kingdom identified the variant, which has been discovered mainly in London and the southeast of England in recent weeks, and has taken precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus by implementing stricter lockdown measures.
Other European countries and Canada have closed their borders in response to the discovery.
