A new variant of the novel coronavirus does not appear to cause more severe illness than other variants, according to a matched study by Public Health England.

Under the study, researchers compared 1,769 people infected with the new variant with 1,769 who had what they described as “wild-type” virus. The two groups were matched 1:1 on the basis of age, sex, area of residence and time of testing, Reuters reports.

“Preliminary results from the cohort study found no statistically significant difference in hospitalisation and 28-day case fatality between cases with the variant and wild-type comparator cases,” the study said.

There was no significant difference in the likelihood of reinfection with the new variant as compared with the other variants, it said.