Sam Fazeli, a Bloomberg Opinion contributor who covers the pharmaceutical industry for Bloomberg Intelligence, answered questions about the emergence in the U.K.
of a mutant variant of the coronavirus, which has prompted strict lockdown measures across England and led neighboring countries to put up trade and travel restrictions to protect against its spread.
The conversation has been edited and condensed.How unusual is this virus mutation?SF: As far as viruses go, it’s not unusual to see mutations like this.
They happen all the time, even within the same person. In fact, there have already been some 4,000 different documented mutations in the Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19 as it has spread around the globe.