Will UK Strain Have a Higher Mortality Rate?

US News provided some clarity to this vexing question on January 22, 2021. This was after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced there may be a link. If the answer to the question will the UK strain have a higher mortality rate is positive, then what does this mean for a world laboring under a pandemic that seems beyond human control.

I Thought They Said Face Masks Would Do the Trick?

Face coverings can make a huge difference, especially if we combine them with regular hand sanitizing and social distancing. The point we wish to make is insufficient people have the will to do these things consistently. And therefore we need to consider what happens if the pandemic spins out of control. And the UK COVID-19 variant has a higher death rate and worsens the situation.

The British government’s chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance confirmed evidence of an increased risk for those who have the new variant. The average risk for a man in his sixties with the original version is 10 in 1,000 he told US News and other media. However, ‘roughly 13 or 14 people might be expected to die’ with the new mutation per thousand.

Is That It, If the UK Strain Has a Higher Mortality Rate?

Three of four more people do not sound like a big deal. However, that blows out to between 10,860 and 14,480 in terms of the UK’s 3.62 million cases to date. These could soak up all the UK’s remaining intensive care beds, not to mention future infections.

If the UK strain has a higher mortality rate, and it spreads elsewhere in the world what will this mean to hospital capacity in terms of this chart? How will we treat the crowds of people at hospital gates.