I think the world has gone mad. 1 For any new variant to be detected, it
probably already exists in most of Europe.
2 It could well be that by trying to stop the spread, we have bred the new
variant simply by natural selection, since only the strain best at spreading
will spread. This is how evolution works. I'm just surprised its taken so
long.
However it will also breed for a less fatal version as well, since
incapacitating a host animal will by itself limit spreading. The crucial
thing we breed for as it mutates is a long period when the person is
affected but not ill. After all the underlying driving force is replication,
is it not? Its no good replicating if you end up killing your host.

So yes its about a lot at the moment, I know four people who have it. None
are that ill, but of course have probably infected many others. The main
thing why its spreading is Christmas. It was bleedin obvious to me that the
students coming home, the school children being about more and too many
people shopping at the same time was basically a recipe for infection with
all sorts of things
So all this silliness at the ports is stupid, since in the last couple of
weeks there has been ample time for people to take any new strain all over
the world, not just Europe.