{"id":123283,"date":"2021-01-30T13:17:08","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T17:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=123283"},"modified":"2021-01-30T13:17:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T17:17:08","slug":"uk-to-help-caribbean-in-its-fight-to-identify-new-covid-19-variants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/uk-to-help-caribbean-in-its-fight-to-identify-new-covid-19-variants\/","title":{"rendered":"UK to help Caribbean in its fight to identify new COVID-19 variants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

The UK will offer its world leading genomics expertise to help identify new variants of
\nthe virus that cause COVID-19 in countries in the Caribbean and around the world.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The announcement comes as part of a speech delivered by UK Health Secretary,
\nMatt Hancock at Chatham House. As part of the UK\u2019s Presidency of the G7 this year,
\nthe Health Secretary outlined his vision for a stronger, more collaborative and
\neffective global health system, not just in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, but to
\nensure the international community is better prepared for future threats.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Countries will be offered UK capacity to analyse new strains of the virus through the
\nlaunch of the New Variant Assessment Platform which will be led by Public Health
\nEngland (PHE) working with NHS Test and Trace and academic partners, as well as
\nthe World Health Organization\u2019s SARS-CoV-2 Global Laboratory Working Group.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

This supports Prime Minister Boris Johnson\u2019s Five Point Plan, as outlined at the
\nUnited Nations General Assembly last year, to protect humanity from another
\npandemic through a shared approach to global health security.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

In due course, it will be led by the National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) and
\nwill involve PHE laboratories and staff as well as academic partner capabilities.<\/p>\n

They will be working directly on samples provided from abroad or will provide expert
\nadvice and support remotely where the partner country already has capabilities in
\nthis area but requests further assistance. The offer could include training and
\nresources as well as personnel and equipment.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Countries will be able to apply for assistance by contacting the World Health
\nOrganization where an existing channel does not already exist with the UK.<\/p>\n

This vital work will combat the spread of coronavirus by identifying more Covid-19
\nvariants around the world to keep the global community one step ahead of any
\nmutations.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: \u201cThis pandemic has shown that the foundations of so many of the exciting experiences that make life worth living are contingent not just on our health, or the health of our neighbours, but the health of people we\u2019ve never met. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cSo we must work to promote health security in every single part of the world. Not
\nonly will this Platform help us better understand this virus and how it spreads, but it
\nwill also boost global capability in this important field, so we\u2019re all better prepared for
\nwhatever lies ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK has carried out more than half of all SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences
\nsubmitted to the global database, and this capability helped PHE\u2019s scientists identify
\nthe variant in Kent, informing new measures to tackle the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

Dr Isabel Oliver, Director of Public Health England\u2019s National Infection Service,
\nsaid: \u201cWe know that the virus will evolve over time and certain mutations could potentially
\ncause the virus to spread faster, make people sicker, or possibly affect how well
\nvaccines work. Genomic testing is crucial to our efforts to control the virus \u2013 it allows
\nus to keep an eye on how the virus is changing and to respond before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new initiative will bring Public Health England\u2019s cutting edge science to
\ncountries that have little or no ability to sequence and analyse COVID-19 virus
\nstrains themselves. It will also give us crucial early warning of new variants emerging
\naround the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the UK holds the presidency of the G7, improving global health security will be a
\nkey theme as we encourage countries to work collaboratively both to tackle this
\npandemic and ensure stronger preparedness for further health threats.<\/p>\n

New variants of coronavirus can be threats to the progress made so far with
\ntreatments and vaccines, so it is vital that the global community is able to react to
\nthem quickly and decisively. The UK\u2019s genomic expertise will guide the global
\nresponse to controlling their spread and saving lives.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK will offer its world leading genomics expertise to help identify new variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 in countries in the Caribbean and around the world. The announcement comes as part of a speech delivered by UK Health Secretary, Matt Hancock at Chatham House. As part of the UK\u2019s Presidency of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":122902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[118,119,117,116,107,88,102,94,96,91,90,99,92,114,115,98,108,106,104,109,95,105,110,112,113,111,101,103,97],"class_list":["post-123283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-268-antigua","tag-268-antigua-barbuda","tag-268-antigua-today","tag-268-today","tag-advertise-in-antigua","tag-antigua","tag-antigua-barbuda","tag-antigua-and-barbuda","tag-antigua-breaking-news","tag-antigua-caribbean","tag-antigua-crime","tag-antigua-economy-news","tag-antigua-news","tag-antigua-news-rooom","tag-antigua-observer","tag-antigua-politics","tag-antiguan-news","tag-barbuda","tag-barbuda-news","tag-barbudan-news","tag-breaking-news-antigua","tag-news","tag-news-antigua","tag-news-antigua-barbuda","tag-news-antigua-and-barbuda","tag-news-barbuda","tag-news-in-antigua","tag-news-in-barbuda","tag-tourism-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUK to help Caribbean in its fight to identify new COVID-19 variants - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/uk-to-help-caribbean-in-its-fight-to-identify-new-covid-19-variants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK to help Caribbean in its fight to identify new COVID-19 variants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK will offer its world leading genomics expertise to help identify new variants of the virus that cause COVID-19 in countries in the Caribbean and around the world. 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