The U.K. coronavirus variant, known as B.1.1.7, doesn't cause a more severe Covid infection.
The new strain, is more contagious and is now the dominant strain in the United States and Europe, and though patients had a higher "viral load" , they were not likely to have a severe infection, and their risk of death was not increased.
Patients with B.1.1.7 are more likely to require oxygen but that is not a sign of a more severe infection.
"The new findings don't nullify the other papers — they just make you think," Dr. Eric Topol told NBC News. "Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. This study says there's no higher death rate, but they did find more need for oxygen, so there's something going on there with respect to this variant."
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