UK variant more transmissible, but does not raise severity: Lancet studies

The novel coronavirus variant first identified in the UK is not associated with more severe illness and death, but appears to lead to higher viral load which makes it more transmissible, suggests an observational study.

The study of patients in London hospitals is consistent with emerging evidence that this lineage is more transmissible than the original COVID-19 strain.

A separate observational study using data logged by 37,000 UK users of a self-reporting COVID-19 symptom app found no evidence that the B.1.1.7. variant altered symptoms or likelihood of experiencing long COVID.