Second new strain of coronavirus detected in UK

A second new strain of the coronavirus has been detected in the United Kingdom – linked to South Africa – which health authorities worry is much more transmissible. Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed two cases of the South African strain were detected in the UK, both of which were contacts of cases who had travelled from South Africa in the past few weeks. He also announced new measures would be rolled out in an effort to prevent the spread of the new strain - named 501.V2. Under the measures, cases and close contacts of cases identified in the UK will be quarantined, while anyone who was in South Africa or in contact with someone who had been in the past fortnight must quarantine immediately. Restrictions will also immediately be placed on travel from South Africa. The changes comes as the UK recorded 744 new deaths – marking the highest daily death toll since April 29 – taking the total number of fatalities within 28 days of receiving a positive test to 69,051. The country also reported 39,237 new infections.