SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 (UK) variant is more transmissible with a 43%-90% higher reproduction number and could induce cases resurgences.
A variant of SARS-CoV-2 that emerged in southeast England in November 2020 is more transmissible than pre-existing variants, a new modeling study of Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published on Science, finds. Further analyses suggest the variant B.1.1.7 will lead to large resurgences of COVID-19 cases.