Coronavirus live news: WHO monitoring new Mu variant; stark Covid divides could shape Europe for generations – study | World news

A new coronavirus variant named Mu has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation (WHO), PA reports.

Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia and cases have been recorded in South America and Europe.

The WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic said the variant has mutations suggesting it could be more resistant to vaccines, as was the case with Beta, but that more studies would be needed to examine this further.

It said: “Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been a few sporadic reports of cases of the Mu variant and some larger outbreaks have been reported from other countries in South America and in Europe.

“Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, the prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased.

“The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes.”

There are currently four coronavirus variants of concern, as deemed by the WHO, with the Alpha variant – first recorded in Kent – seen in 193 countries, Beta in 141, Gamma in 91 and Delta in 170 countries, while Mu is the fifth variant of interest.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

A new coronavirus variant named Mu has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation. Mu, or B.1.621, was first identified in Colombia and cases have been recorded in South America and Europe.

The WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic said the variant has mutations suggesting it could be more resistant to vaccines, as was the case with Beta, but that more studies would be needed to examine this further.

Here are the other key recent developments:

• The UK government will press ahead with plans to introduce vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded indoor venues in England from the end of next month, the Guardian reports. Officials also restated their intention to roll out a Covid-19 booster programme from September.
• Around 14 million people in the US received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in August, about 4 million more than in July, officials said on Tuesday as the government pushes inoculation as infections rise.
• The US State Department has raised its travel advisory alert for Canada to a “level 3: reconsider travel” status amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it said.
• The Irish government has announced plans to remove all Covid-19 restrictions by 31 October.
• Seven in 10 (70%) of the European Union’s adult population has been fully vaccinated against Covid, hitting a target it had set at the beginning of the year. The figure masks the contrast among EU countries, with some nations being well above the 70% goal while others in the poorer eastern region of the bloc are far behind.
• Italy reported 75 coronavirus-related deaths on Tuesday, up from 53 the previous day, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 5,498 from 4,257, the health ministry said.
• Israel has recorded its highest daily coronavirus case tally of nearly 11,000 new infections, amid a surge caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant as schools prepare to reopen.