The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group said the new findings could mean Covid-19 is now becoming more infectious. They also said patients are dying more quickly

Coronavirus is mutating and patients could be dying more quickly than in the first wave, SAGE papers published yesterday show.

The New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) said the findings could mean Covid-19 is now becoming more infectious.

But researchers said the UK did not have the capability to study these mutations and understand whether they could be harmful, Mail Online reports.

Scientists at NERVTAG, which works with the Government’s scientific advisory group SAGE, said there is a possibility that these changes could increase the ability of Covid-19 to spread.

The paper says: “In the UK, researchers are currently monitoring whether mutations are occurring, but are not systematically checking whether these mutations ‘matter’. This is an important gap in our knowledge.