Coronavirus horror: New strain MORE contagious and better at 'getting around' face masks

The world is in the midst of the deadly pandemic with more than 31,000,000 confirmed cases globally, and the death toll has reached 978,112. And as the figures continue to rise, a study has warned about a new mutation of the virus.

During the pandemic, governments and scientific advisers have told people to follow social distancing rules and wear face masks – to try to slow the spread of the virus.

But one virologist has claimed the virus could be adapting to find its way to “get around those barriers.”

David Morens, who works at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) said the virus is becoming more transmissible.

He told the Washington Post: “Wearing masks, washing our hands, all those things are barriers to transmissibility, or contagion, but as the virus becomes more contagious it statistically is better at getting around those barriers.”

It comes as experts in Houston, Texas, have been sequencing genomes of the virus since the start of the pandemic in the West back in March.

Their study claims one of the mutations – which is the most dominant in the US – accounts for 99.9 percent of all cases in the Houston area.

They claim the mutation is able to change the structure of the “spike protein” which can help the spread of that strain.

They say this helps the virus to cling on to infected cells and in turn increases the ability of the mutated virus to infect cells.

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The US is the worst-hit country following the outbreak of the virus and has seen more than 7,000,000 confirmed cases of the disease.

The death toll figure has surpassed 200,000.

This terrifying news comes just hours after researchers in Japan claimed plastic face masks do not fully protect people from the threat of the virus.

Experts and health professionals have recommended wearing these visors alongside face masks as protection.

A computer simulation revealed almost 100 percent of airborne droplets smaller than five micrometres in size can escape through the plastic visor when talking and breathing.

Worryingly, half of larger droplets given off by coughs and sneezes can also escape into the air, posing a risk to others and potentially spreading the virus.

This means solely wearing plastic face shields would not offer vital protection from coronavirus.

Makoto Tsubokura, team leader of the study carried out by the Riken Centre in Japan, told the Guardian: “Judging from the results of the simulation, unfortunately, the effectiveness of face guards in preventing droplets from spreading from an infected person’s mouth is limited compared with masks.

“This is especially true for small droplets off less than 20 micrometres.

“At the same time, it somehow works for the droplets larger than 50 micrometres.”

source: express.co.uk