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LONDON: The higher infectiousness of the COVID-19 strain first identified in the UK could be because people stay sick for longer, according to a new study.
Researchers at Harvard University conducting a study into the British strain of the virus found that participants infected with it were sick for about five days longer than those suffering from the old variant.
The study’s participants were made up of American professional basketball players, who are subjected to rigorous testing — including while infected with the virus. This allowed researchers to track the specific lifecycle of the old and new variants.
While the findings come from a relatively small study, if confirmed they could mean that countries need to increase the time they suggest people self-isolate for upon infection.
Dr. Jenny Rohn, a biologist at University College London, said a larger study is needed, but the findings explain the strain’s infectiousness. 
“The study also has serious implications for the current quarantine period of 10 days, given that the Kent variant was shown to be at large in the infected person for an average of 13 days,” she added.
The study may also present an explanation as to why the British variant is more deadly. While infections with the mutated form of the virus are not more severe, Dr. Simon Clarke, a professor in cellular microbiology at Reading University, speculated that the increased time it is active in a person’s body “gives greater opportunity for the immune system to overreact and kill the patient.”