The COVID-19 pandemic

[danbrotherston]

New U.K. strain of COVID-19 could already be in Canada, says Dr. Anthony Fauci: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/fauci-uk-...-1.5852377

One small correction: it's a new variant, not a new strain (and, yes, it's CBC's mistake). SARS-CoV-2 is a strain, as is SARS-CoV (the original SARS virus). What we're dealing with here is a variant, caused by some mutations.

Sadly, I expect that most of the media will continue to confuse the two terms.

I don't think confusing the two terms matters much. People (including myself) don't really understand the technical difference between those two things, nor do I really understand the implications. So using the right term would not be helpful in understanding what this means.

What DOES matter is that the implications are effectively communicated so that that people understand that this change makes the virus spread more easily, but that it is believed the vaccine will still be effective.