India suspended all flights from UK until December 31 amid concerns about SARS-CoV-2

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Daily Current Affairs Article 23rd December 2020: India suspended all flights from and to the UK until December 31, amid concerns about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is “spreading & growing rapidly” there. Several other countries, too, have suspended UK flights and imposed travel restrictions.

Last week, the new SARS-CoV-2 variant was revealed to be the reason behind the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in South and East England.

It is being referred to as VUI (Variant Under Investigation) 202012/01, or the B.1.1.7 lineage.

The variant is the result of multiple mutations in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as mutations in other genomic regions of the RNA virus.

Preliminary analysis suggests that it is more transmissible than previously circulating variants.