The new variant of coronavirus is more transmissible than the viruss previous version, reported a study by the Imperial College, London. It further stated that the new variant increases the Reproduction or R number by 0.4 to 0.7.

The UKs latest R number is estimated at between 1.1 and 1.3, and should be below 1.0 for the number of cases to start falling. Prof Axel Gandy of Londons Imperial College has stated that the differences between the virus types were quite extreme. The study suggests that the transmission of the new variant tripled during Englands November lockdown while the previous version was reduced by one-third… (BBC, January 1, 2021)