Britain finally closes its borders to coronavirus – 1 year too late

“UK shuts travel corridors and requires negative Covid tests to enter

All foreign arrivals will also have to quarantine in toughening of measures in response to new strains

The UK is to close all access to the country for overseas travellers without proof of a recent negative coronavirus test and 10 days of quarantine, shutting all travel corridors, Boris Johnson has announced.  More...

Emergence and rapid spread of a new SARS-CoV-2 lineage with multiple spike mutations in South Africa

“Here, we describe a new SARS-CoV-2 lineage (501Y.V2) characterised by eight lineage-defining mutations in the spike protein, including three at important residues in the receptor-binding domain (K417N, E484K and N501Y) that may have functional significance.  More...

Mutations arising in SARS-CoV-2 spike on sustained human-to-human transmission and human-to-animal passage

“Spike mutations have also occurred during interspecies transfers of SARS-CoV-2 from humans to animals, both during establishment of experimental models of COVID-19 and as an unintended consequence of human interactions with domestic, curated and commercial animals.”  More...