Bryan Health discusses new strain of COVID-19

This event was previously live-streamed and has since ended.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Watch Bryan Health’s weekly coronavirus press briefing live, today at 11 a.m., right here on klkntv.com.

Dr. Jim Nora, the medical director of infection prevention at Bryan Medical Center, will be joining the briefing to discuss the new strain of COVID-19.

According to Dr. Nora, there are two prominent variants, one found in the United Kingdom (UK) and one in South Africa. At this time, he believes the UK variant is already widespread in the United States.

However, it hasn’t been a cause for concern. Dr. Nora says mutations are common with RNA viruses, like COVID-19 or the flu. However, COVID seems to change at a slower rate than most, about every two weeks. The CDC estimates the virus muted about 4,000 times since the pandemic began.

“It’s really important to realize mutations are not new, they have been going on from the very start, and they will continue to go on,” said Dr. Nora. “they have been going on from the very start, and they will continue to go on.”

In reference to whether a current or potential new strains will be more deadly, or virulent, Dr. Nora says it’s not likely.

“The virus wants to be as transmissible as possible… and ultimately from an evolutionary standpoint, the virus wants to head towards being less virulent because if it kills its host then, that particular version of the virus is done with. Now that doesn’t mean that a particular mutation can’t make the virus, more virulent in the short term but long term viruses tend to be more easily transmissible and less virulent.”

Dr. Nora also reassured the public that you don’t have to worry about a ‘super mutant’ virus.

This would require every single spike protein, which acts as keys to enter a healthy cell, to change; an alteration that actually works against the virus.

“It’s what’s called a ‘dead-end’ mutation. So the virus can no longer get into the host cells and can no longer replicate. Then it’s all over for that particular mutation.”

Regardless, the COVID-19 vaccine will protect against average mutations, explained Dr. Nora.

“When you get the vaccine it’s not that you produce just a single antibody to this particular vaccine. In fact, you produce antibodies that target all sorts of patterns that are within the vaccine itself. So, if one of them changes a little bit, you’ve got other antibodies that are there to fight it.”