detected a new strain of coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro

The new variant, called P5, was discovered by the Corona-Omica-RJ network which carries out genomic monitoring and in which, among others, professionals from the Fiocruz Institute, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the states hardest hit by the pandemic. So far, there are 54,500 deaths, just over 10% of what has been recorded across Brazil, which surpassed 504,000 deaths on Tuesday.

In Rio de Janeiro, the most common strain remains P1, which has appeared in the Amazon region, and cases of infections with a new P5 strain are increasing every day. In São Paulo, there are 19 infected, it has not yet been determined whether these are indigenous cases or originating from Rio.