Coronavirus: New variant detected in Vietnam that combines strains from India and UK and is highly transmissible

HANOI.- The Minister of Health of Vietnam, Nguyen Thanh Long, confirmed this Saturday the detection of a new variant coronavirus with the characteristics of strains from India and UK, both highly contagious.

“After performing the gene sequencing in newly detected patients, we discovered a variant which is a mixture of Indians and British. More specificly, it is an Indian strain with mutations which originally belong to the British version ”, reported the official, as recorded VnExpress.

“The main feature of this virus is that it spreads quickly through the air. The concentration of virus in the throat and in saliva increases rapidly and spreads rapidly in a nearby environment, ”added the minister, adding that this would explain the appearance of so many new cases in different places in a short time.

Long reported that the Vietnamese Ministry of Health is considering world presentation about the new variant, which still has no name, to make known its characteristics.

The detection of the hybrid strain coincides with a rebound in Covid cases in the country, after one month without notification of locally transmitted infections. As officially announced, the new conditions are linked to the arrival of a 27-year-old from Japan on April 7 and a Chinese expert who arrived in the territory for professional reasons.

Previously, Vietnam had detected seven variants of the virus at the regional level. These are the strains B.1.222, B.1.619, D614G, B.1.1.7 (British variant), B.1.351, A.23.1 and B.1.617.2 (Indian variant).

The news comes out at a time when the country is facing a new wave of infections in more than half of its territory, including industrial areas and major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.

Vietnam has so far been relatively protected from the virus, with most of the 6,700 cases and 47 deaths recorded since April.

Vietnam has a population of 97 million and has so far vaccinated a million people. The authorities want to pick up the pace and achieve collective immunity by the end of the year.

DPA, AFP and Reuters agencies

THE NATION