What is the Brazilian coronavirus strain and what effect could it have on Australia?

The emergence of a new coronavirus variant in Brazil has led the UK to ban all arrivals from South America.

Travel from Portugal and Cape Verde will also be off limits because of their close links with Brazil.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said officials wanted to avoid the variant to ensure the vaccine rollout program goes ahead as planned.

“At this crucial stage, what we can’t have is new variants with unknown qualities coming in from abroad,” Mr Johnson told a press briefing.

“That’s why we’ve set up the system to stop arrivals from places where there are new variants of concern and set up the extra tough measures.”

So what do we know about this new strain from Brazil and what does its existence tell us about the virus in general?