RAPID INCREASE OF A SARS-CoV-2 VARIANT WITH MULTIPLE SPYKE PROTEIN MUTATIONS

Summary

Over the last few weeks, the United Kingdom (UK) has faced a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in South East England, leading to enhanced epidemiological and virological investigations. Analysis of viral genome sequence data identified a large proportion of cases belonged to a new single phylogenetic cluster. The new variant is defined by multiple spike protein mutations (deletion 69-70, deletion 144, N501Y, A570D, D614G, P681H,T716I, S982A, D1118H) present as well as mutations in other genomic regions…