(Karachi) A new variant of the novel coronavirus that originated in Britain and South Africa, is not lethal as thought as it does not appear to cause more severe illness than other strains, a report published in Dawn stated.

As per a study conducted by Public Health England, researchers said the new variant can spread more rapidly.

In a bid to analyze the impact of the new strain, the scientists compared 1,769 people infected with the new variant with 1,769 who had what they described as "wild-type" virus. The two groups were matched 1:1 on the basis of age, sex, area of residence and time of testing.

Of the 42 people who were admitted to hospital, 16 were infected with the new variant while 26 cases had wild type infection, according to the study. In terms of fatality, there were 12 deaths in variant cases compared to 10 deaths in wild-type cases.

"Preliminary results from the cohort study found no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between cases with the variant and wild-type comparator cases," the study said. There is no significant difference in the likelihood of reinfection with the new variant as compared with the other variants, it said.

The study suggested that the "secondary attack rate", or the proportion of contacts of confirmed cases that develop disease themselves, is higher in people infected with the new variant.

Earlier, the new more "severe" coronavirus strain was detected in Britain and South Africa with experts claiming it spreads quicker than current types of the virus.

The virus contains higher level of viral load. The new COVID variant is more worrisome as it tends to affect young people more seriously. Besides, researchers said the strain spreads quickly and is responsible for the second wave of the disease in Britain and South Africa.

It is also feared the strain may now be immune to certain antibodies triggered at the start of the pandemic.