A new strain of coronavirus reported in Britain may be more deadly than first thought, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, as he warned again that the country faces a long wait before it can emerge from lockdown. Speaking at a news conference Friday in London, the premier said new evidence had led the government to revise its initial view that the variant was more contagious but not more dangerous. It may be 30 per cent more deadly than the original strain – or more, a government analysis found. “In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant – the variant that was first identified in London and the South East – may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” Johnson said from 10 Downing Street, flanked by his top medical advisers. WHO says UK coronavirus strain in over 60 countries The government said that on average, for 1,000 men in their 60s, 13 to 14 would die if they contracted the new variant, compared to 10 for the initial strain. The premier’s warning comes as Britain grapples with the highest death toll in Europe and battles to recover from the economic wreckage of its deepest recession in more than 300 years. There was a glimmer of light for the UK in government data on Friday suggesting that the second wave of the pandemic had passed its peak. But Johnson and his scientific advisers were clear that the rates of hospitalisation, deaths and infections remain far too high and will not allow the restrictions that have closed businesses to be lifted any time soon. Added to that was the warning over the increased potency of the new variant known as B.1.1.7, which was first identified in the UK last year and has since spread around the world. It has been detected in more than 60 nations – including China, where the pandemic began more than a year ago – according to the World Health Organization. Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said the new strain was not only more easy to transmit but also linked to higher mortality rates than the earlier variants in circulation in Britain. “It’s largely the impact of this new variant that means the NHS is under such intense pressure,” Johnson said. “It’s more important than ever that we all remain vigilant and follow the rules.” There are 38,562 coronavirus patients in hospitals, which is 78 per cent higher than during the first peak last April, he said. While an initial analysis by Public Health England experts found the variant was not linked to more hospitalisation or deaths, independent reviews by outside experts generated consistent, worrisome results, according to a government report. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London found mortality was 29 per cent to 35 per cent higher in those infected with the variant of concern, or VOC, compared with those carrying the original strain of the virus. The University of Exeter concluded the risk was 91 per cent higher, while a repeat analysis from Public Health England found 65 per cent higher mortality. Prince William voices concerns about coronavirus strain on key workers “There is a realistic probability that infection with VOC B.1.1.7 is associated with an increased risk of death compared to infection with non-VOC viruses,” the report from the UK government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group concluded. “It should be noted that the absolute risk of death per infection remains low.” More data will accumulate in the coming weeks – since deaths lag infections – that could make the analysis more robust, the group said. Officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reached out to learn more about the situation but haven’t yet seen the data or spoken to UK counterparts, a spokesman for the agency said in an email Friday. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies programme, said the organisation had not yet seen evidence that the variant is more lethal. “What we are seeing is that if you infect more people, more people will get very sick, and if more people get very sick more people will die,” he added. “Increasing incidence leads to higher mortality.” Additional reporting by AFP