Since the coronavirus pandemic erupted, a lurking fear for scientists and politicians has been the emergence of a “mutant” strain making it more dangerous. The variant that has prompted the UK to impose a Christmas clampdown takes the health emergency into a new phase. It does not, so far, appear to cause more serious symptoms or higher mortality rates, or be more resistant to vaccines. But its higher transmission rate makes containing it even more demanding. Since the same variant has been found in the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia and elsewhere, more countries internationally may soon be grappling with the same problems.
自新型冠狀病毒疫情爆發以來，科學家和政界人士一直隱隱擔心一件事，那就是出現一種「突變」毒株，使這種病毒更加危險。促使英國政府實施耶誕節封鎖的新變種，使這起公共衛生緊急事件進入一個新階段。迄今爲止，新變種似乎不會導致更嚴重的症狀或更高的死亡率，或者降低疫苗的效力。但是其更強的傳染性意味著，要遏制它的傳播甚至更加困難。由於在荷蘭、丹麥、澳洲等國家也已發現相同的變種，因此更多國家可能很快就會遭遇相同問題。