Elsa shares some winter facts

_Elsa_

Well Christmas is finished and Elsa really had a great time to creating the story about the girls building their snowmen, ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ New Year’s Eve is approaching quickly and she wonders if there will be a lockdown. It’s been a heck of a year with this COVID-19 virus. Last she heard England had gotten a new variation to the virus She decides to look it up on Google.

‘What do we know about the new UK variant so far?

B.1.1.7, as it is known, has 17 mutations compared with the original SARS-CoV-2 virus first discovered in Wuhan, China, including eight that may change the shape of the outer spike protein. Many of these mutations have been found before, but to have so many in a single virus is unusual. It was first sequenced in the UK on 20 September, but only caught the attention of scientists on 8 December, when they were looking for reasons for the rapid growth of cases in south-east England. On 14 December, the UK’s health minister, Matt Hancock, told parliament that a new variant that seems to spread faster had been identified.’ (Source)

It sure doesn’t sound too promising. She finds another article ‘New coronavirus variant reaches Canada, Japan and several EU countries’.  

‘Cases of a new variant of COVID-19 first detected in England were confirmed by health officials in Canada, Japan and several more European Union countries Saturday.

Why it matters: While there's no evidence the variant is more deadly than the original strain, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement that it could be 70% more transmissible prompted dozens of countries to ban travel from the United Kingdom.

• The strain, called B.1.1.7, spurred a cases spike that saw tens of millions of people in England and Wales lock down over the holidays.

• Some officials worry it may have been spreading unnoticed worldwide, as few countries have the kind of sophisticated genomic surveillance that enabled British scientists to find the variant, per the New York Times.

What’s happening: The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the first two cases in North America of the new coronavirus strain Saturday evening, in the province of Ontario. The agency noted in a statement "these two cases did not travel outside of Canada."

Officials in Japan said Saturday the country would close its border to all non-resident foreign nationals from midnight Monday through Jan. 31 after seven people tested positive for the variant, broadcaster NHK reports.

In Spain, Madrid's regional government announced Saturday that four people had become infected with the B.1.1.7 strain, according to Al Jazeera.

Sweden's Public Health Agency said Saturday the strain had been detected in a newly returned traveler from the U.K., Reuters notes.

France's health ministry confirmed the first B.1.1.7 case in the country late Friday, per AFP.’ (Source)

That’s it! She is not going to read anything else about this virus. Time to look for another story idea.

Let’s continue here - It looks like a Winter Wonderland