Coronavirus: more data on mutation

In late June, I looked into research that said a coronavirus mutation might be causing it to become more contagious or even more deadly. This was based on a study from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The findings from that research were recently published. Since I am unlikely to understand any of it, I'll go with what some news articles have to say.

The Los Angeles Times (Jul 2) reports on the mutation:

The newer version has a mutation that alters the so-called spike protein the virus uses to enter human cells. The team of scientists who found it say the change probably makes the virus more infectious, which would explain why it was able to overtake its predecessor from China.

However, independent researchers said that assessment was premature and cited other factors that could explain its rapid spread.

. . . Even so, the patients with the newer coronavirus variant were no sicker than the patients with the earlier version of the virus.



The Hill (Jul 2) also reported what Dr Anthony Fauci had to say about the research:

“The data is showing there’s a single mutation that makes the virus be able to replicate better and maybe have high viral loads,” Fauci said.

"It just seems that the virus replicates better and may be more transmissible," he continued.

. . . "We don’t have a connection to whether an individual does worse with this or not."

What is good about this is that the report says that it doesn't make people sicker. Of course, the bad news would be that more people will get the virus due to this mutation and therefore more people will die due to the higher infection rate.

My fear would be: what if the next mutation ends up being both more infectious and more deadly than the original?