What causes a virus to change and how to stop stronger COVID-19 variants from emerging
When a virus is widely circulating in a population and causing many infections, the likelihood of the virus mutating increases. The more opportunities a virus has to spread, the more it replicates - and the more opportunities it has to undergo changes.
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Stopping the spread at the source remains key. Current measures to reduce transmission - including frequent hand washing, wearing a mask, physical distancing and avoiding crowded places or closed settings - continue to work against new variants by reducing the amount of viral transmission and therefore also reducing opportunities for the virus to mutate.
(Source: WHO)
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