Covid variant could be deadlier and spark stricter and longer lockdown rules, warn government scientists. New figures have revealed the mutant coronavirus could see the death toll in men in their 60s shoot up by nearly a third.There is also a "realistic possibility" the mutation that emerged in Kent last September comes with an increased risk of death, according to the Government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group.Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday rejected calls to lift lockdown in England early while Covid case numbers remained "forbiddingly high" with a risk of "another big rebound" in the disease.He revealed the new variant may be associated with "a higher degree of mortality".Rowland Kao, professor of.