[dynachrome]

Related:

https://www.rt.com/news/515920-coronavirus-mutations-eight-times-infectious/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

“New research has found that a mutation in the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, present in variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, can make the virus up to eight times more infectious than the original.
The new research into the D614G mutation on the spike protein in SARS-CoV-2, present in all the latest variants currently plaguing healthcare systems the world over, was led by researchers at New York University, the New York Genome Center, and Mount Sinai.

“Confirming that the mutation leads to more transmissibility may help explain, in part, why the virus has spread so rapidly over the past year,” said Neville Sanjana, assistant professor of biology at NYU, who added that the mutation has reached “near universal prevalence” among the coronavirus variants spreading across the globe.”

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

So it’s going from a measles level of infectiousness (JMO, R0 of around 14) to a smallpox level (R0 of around at least 30), then.

Congratulations, Xi Jinping. You created a real-life Captain Trips for the elderly.

Sounds good. /sarc