‘We will see more variants of coronavirus in UK but there’s no need to panic,’ claims doctor

Dr Alexander van Tulleken has claimed that we will see more variants of coronavirus in the UK.

Appearing on Monday’s instalment of BBC Morning Live, the GP, who goes by the name Dr Xand spoke to hosts Gethin Jones and Oti Mabuse about the new variants of the virus and how it’s not a bad thing.

‘We probably don’t know how many variants there are just because most countries in the world can’t test for this stuff the way that we do in the UK,’ he began.

‘We are actually really good at doing this in the UK.

‘But, certainly hundreds, possibly thousands of variants. We are definitely going to see more because viruses mutate.’

Speaking about how viruses mutate, Dr Xand explained there is no reason for any one to panic about it.

‘If you want an example of viral mutation, your great great great great great grandparents were viruses,’ he continued.

‘A few billion years ago you came from viruses, they mutated to become humans. You have viruses built into your DNA, they will mutate, we will find more.

‘That’s ok, we can adjust the vaccine, it’s not a reason to panic.’

Dr Xand went on to emphasise the importance of the national lockdown and why the vaccine campaign needs to ‘be done quickly’.

‘It’s like taking antibiotics,’ he added. ‘You can get the resistance and that’s why the vaccine campaign has to be done quickly, thoroughly and why the lockdown is important even while the vaccine campaign is going on.’

Though the terms are commonly used interchangeably, there is a big difference between a coronavirus ‘strain’ and a ‘variant’.

Covid-19 (also called SARS-CoV-2) is a strain of coronavirus.

Since Covid-19 is itself a strain of coronavirus, any further mutations are officially known as variants.

In addition to Covid-19, there are six other strains of coronavirus. Some are more serious than others.

In the latest figures, there are believed to be around 4,000 variants of Covid-19 around the world.

Morning Live airs weekdays at 9.15am on BBC One.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Jeremy Clarkson has brutal goodbye to a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire contestant: ‘You made a mess of it’

MORE : 1000-lb Sisters star Tammy Slaton comes out as pansexual to boyfriend Jerry