Alert in Brazil: They identify a new strain of cor …

A group of researchers have identified a new variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for covid-19, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, one of the regions hardest hit by the pandemic in Brazil, reported Tuesday from scientific sources in that country. Country.

According to a study by the National Scientific Computing Laboratory (LNCC), linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology and carried out in collaboration with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the new variant was detected for the first time last October in the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the homonymous state.

The researchers noted that, for now, the new variant is “partially limited” to the city, which concentrates the largest number of covid-19 cases and deaths in the region, but has warned of a possible statewide spread and, consequently, to other parts of the country.

“The significant increase in the frequency of this lineage raises concerns about public health management and the need for genomic surveillance during the second wave of infections,” scientists said in the study.

The mutation of the virus was discovered thanks to the genetic sequencing of the line B.1.1.28, which has already been circulating in Brazil since the beginning of the year, and the variant is estimated to have appeared in July.

The researchers analyzed 180 genomes of SARS-CoV-2 and discovered five “unique mutations”, which “appeared and spread rapidly”.

The study does not, however, indicate whether the newly identified variant is more transmissible or more aggressive than those already known in Brazil, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic along with the United States and India.

Scientists also noted that There is also no “indication” that the variant may reduce the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that are just starting to be distributed around the world.

The state of Rio de Janeiro, after Sao Paulo, is the second region in Brazil with the highest absolute number of deaths from the disease, with nearly 25,000 deaths, and the sixth with the most confirmed cases (407,575 ).

Across the country, which has a population of around 210 million, the coronavirus is already leaving more than 187,000 dead and 7.2 million infected. In recent weeks, Brazil has seen a new epidemic of the pathogen, which has forced several states and municipalities to toughen restrictive measures for the holiday season, which have even been canceled in several places.