December 21 coronavirus news

A new coronavirus variant discovered in the UK has prompted a new lockdown and travel bans.

But a World Health official says viruses mutate and change all the time, and there are processes in place "to really evaluate what these mutations are and what they mean."

Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for Covid-19, told CNN’s Erica Hill Monday:

"We don’t anticipate any impact on the vaccine and on vaccination," she added. "And I think that’s really important as well, but the studies need to be done. We need to make sure we follow the science, and we will report, the UK and WHO will report information as soon as we learn it."  

Van Kerkhove explained that the variant under investigation was detected through routine surveillance activities. There was increasing transmission in the southeast of England as it moved from Tier 2 to Tier 3 restrictions. It was retrospectively identified that some had the lineage back in September.

WHO was alerted of the variant on Dec. 14 and over the last week it has been working with scientists in the UK through their regional office in Europe and the European Centers for Disease Control to understand, Van Kerkhove said. 

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A new coronavirus variant discovered in the UK — which has prompted a new lockdown and travel bans — is "out of control," Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday.

Here's what we know so far about the new variant and the pandemic in the UK:

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Investors had hoped to celebrate the moment US lawmakers agreed on a new stimulus package to help America's ailing economy. Instead, the emergence of a new variant of the Covid-19 virus in the United Kingdom has sent markets plunging, as anxiety about the pandemic again comes to the fore.

Over the weekend, the United Kingdom reversed plans to loosen restrictions over Christmas and announced strict lockdowns across much of the country, citing concerns about a variant of the coronavirus believed to be much more infectious. In the past 24 hours, the country has become increasingly isolated, with Canada, France and Israel among those banning UK travelers while they assess the situation.

S&P 500 futures were 1.6% lower as of 7:15 am ET. Dow futures were down 1.3%, or more than 400 points, while Nasdaq futures were off 0.9%.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) in London was down more than 2%. France's CAC 40 (CAC40) was off 2.6%, and Germany's Dax (DAX) dropped 2.7%. Airline and hospitality stocks were among those hit hard, with shares of EasyJet (ESYJY) and British Airways owner IAG both down 9%.

"Only masochists or the blindly ambitious look forward to early Monday wake-up calls, but that's what is being delivered to financial markets," Oanda market analyst Jeffrey Halley told clients.

The virus developments overshadowed a long-awaited breakthrough in US stimulus talks. Congressional leaders announced Sunday night that they'd secured a deal for a $900 billion rescue package to deliver much-needed relief for small businesses, unemployed Americans and health care workers.

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Morocco, Russia and India have joined the growing list of countries suspending flights with the United Kingdom after a new variant of the coronavirus was detected.

"This decision is part of the emergency measures undertaken to preserve the health of the population and curb the spread of the pandemic," the Moroccan government said in a statement, according to the state news agency.

All flights between India and the UK will be suspended until the end of 2020, the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Monday. Those passengers arriving before December 22 will be required to take a mandatory RT-PCR test, the ministry added.

Russia is suspending flights to and from the UK for a week starting midnight Moscow time on December 22, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported citing Russian coronavirus response headquarters.

Alarm over the new variant, which was first identified in England, has resulted in British travelers being cut off from much of Europe and other parts of the world as countries imposed restrictions on travel from the UK.

By Monday, dozens of countries across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas had announced travel bans for the UK. Others, such as Greece and Spain, have imposed restrictions that require travelers arriving from Britain to undergo coronavirus tests or quarantine.

British traders are calling for rapid testing of truck drivers amid growing concerns that European truck drivers could stop delivering goods to the UK to avoid being “stranded.” It comes after France announced a 48-hour ban on UK travellers due to a new variant of coronavirus, prompting the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel to close. 

Richard Burnett, head of the UK Road Haulage Association said on BBC Radio Monday this could be a "deterrent" for European hauliers who don’t want to end up "stranded" in the UK so close to Christmas. 

"I think that the retailers have done a very good job in terms of stock building [...] there will be plenty of stock but the fresh food supply, where it's short shelf life and there will be product on its way now -- that's where the challenge [...] comes from," he said.

Meanwhile, the spokeswoman for the French National Road Haulage Federation (FNTR), Vanessa Ibarlucea, told CNN Monday the Dover-Calais truck situation is "catastrophic."

"And on an economic level, because we have our drivers who do not want to go to the UK because of fear to not be able to come back as the borders are closed. It is going to cause an issue regarding the flows which are likely to stop, and therefore cause a drying-up of supply across the Channel ahead of the Brexit day," she added.

UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Russian makers of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine during a video conference chaired by President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Joint clinical trials to test the combination of AZD1222, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and Sputnik V, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Research institute, will be part of this cooperation.

Russia's Sputnik V is an adenovirus-based vaccine, while AstraZeneca's AZD1222 is based on a chimpanzee viral vector.

Russia registered Sputnik V in August ahead of key large-scale phase III trials necessary to establish the vaccine's efficacy and safety. While phase 3 trials are currently ongoing, the country is already moving towards mass vaccination.

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which sponsored the development of Sputnik V, also announced that Belarus became the first foreign country to register the Russian vaccine.

First doses of the vaccine will be distributed among Belarussians in January 2021, the country's health minister Dmitry Pinevich said, according to Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

UK business groups have warned of the impact of new Covid-19 travel restrictions on their supply chains.

Industry groups and leading firms have said they don’t expect food shortages in the days leading up to Christmas, but they warned of major disruption if the situation is not resolved quickly. Major UK ports have closed after France blocked trucks from travelling out of the UK because of fears of a new Covid-19 variant.

Other European countries have also imposed various travel restrictions on the UK. Brexit means the current trade arrangements between the UK and European Union are due to end on December 31, which could cause further disruption.

Sainsbury's, one of the UK’s leading supermarket chains, said if nothing changes the UK will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit -- all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year.

Shane Brennan, the CEO of the Cold Chain Federation, which deals with moving frozen and chilled goods, said “Whilst we face no shortages now, we do need urgent agreements between the UK and EU Governments to find a way to safely allow freight movements to continue. This has been possible at every other stage through the pandemic. An extended period of stopped movement now will cause significant problems for supply chains in January.”

Seoul will double the number of Covid-19 dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) beds by the end of 2020 amid the latest surge in infections, acting mayor of Seoul Seo Jeong-hyup said on Monday. 

Around 85% of hospital beds dedicated to infectious disease in the city are occupied, Seo said -- and 87 out of 91 ICU beds are currently occupied. 

To cope with the latest outbreak, Seoul will add 105 more Covid-19 ICU beds by the end of the year, which will double the capacity, he said. Nine ICU beds will be added Monday. 

Seo added that two patients so far have died while waiting for hospital beds. 

In a statement on Monday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said they are closely monitoring the news of a new coronavirus variant emerging out of the United Kingdom. 

South Korea has yet to discover the reported variant in travelers arriving from the UK, KDCA said. Health authorities are reviewing whether to begin conducting whole-genome analysis of viruses sampled from UK travelers. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to chair an emergency meeting with ministers Monday, as governments around the world step up efforts to contain a potentially fast-spreading new coronavirus variant.

Alarm over the new variant, which was first identified in England, has seen British travelers cut off from much of Europe and other parts of the world as countries move to impose restrictions on flights from the UK.

In a hastily called press conference Saturday, Johnson said the new variant appeared to "be up to 70% more transmissible," and was responsible for a significant rise in cases in London and southeastern England. Those areas would now be placed under a heightened form of lockdown, said Johnson.

The restrictions are the latest disruption to a Christmas holiday shadowed by the pandemic. As winter descends across the northern hemisphere, governments from Asia to Europe have tightened social-distancing rules and reintroduced lockdown measures to counter a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The discovery of the new, potentially fast-spreading variant has deepened concerns major restrictions will now continue long into the new year.

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