New virus strain not out of control: WHO

International Desk: The new coronavirus or Covid-19 strain discovered in Britain with a higher transmission rate is not yet out of control and can be controlled by using existing measures, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
WHO’s emergencies chief Michael Ryan told a press conference: “We have had a much higher contamination rate at different points in this pandemic and we have got it under control.”
“So the situation is not in that sense out of control,” he also said, adding that “it cannot be left to its own devices.” Earlier, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the new variant or strain “out of control,” saying it was 70 percent more transmissible than the main strain.
“The measures we currently have in place are the correct measures,” Ryan said.
“We need to do what we have been doing, we may just have to do it with a little more intensity and for a little longer to make sure we can bring this virus under control.”
It is to be mentioned that 30 countries shut down their borders to people traveling from Britain or South Africa – where the variant has emerged – to tackle any further spread.