More contagious variants of COVID-19 have spread around the world which are said to be more contagious than the original strain. This includes the U.K. B.1.17, the Brazilian P.1 and the South African B.1.351 variants, along with other lesser known variants such as the ones in California and New York.
According to a Conversation article by Lara Herrero, a virologist from Griffith University in Australia, the COVID-19 virus hijacks someoneâs cells and the cells are used to duplicate the virus. Sometimes an error occurs in the duplication of the virus which causes a mutation of the original virus.