Vietnam has discovered a new Covid-19 variant which is a hybrid of variants found in India and UK. This variant spreads quickly by air, health officials confirmed on Saturday.
More than 6,800 Covid-19 cases and 47 deaths have been reported in Vietnam. The country is dealing with fresh outbreak across more than half of its area, including industrial areas and big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
“We have discovered a new hybrid variant from the strains first found in Indian and the UK,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long told a national meeting on the pandemic Saturday, according to state media.
“The characteristic of this strain is that it spreads quickly in the air. The concentration of virus in the throat fluid increases rapidly and spreads very strongly to the surrounding environment.”
Long did not spill the beans on the number of cases recorded with this new variant but said that Vietnam will soon announce the discovery in the world’s map of genetic strains.
Vietnam’s Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said in a statement, on Saturday, that its scientists had detected gene mutations in four out of 32 patient samples through gene sequencing.
According to the Ministry of Health, there were seven known coronavirus variants in Vietnam before Long’s announcement.
The new phase of infections has made the public and the government hesitant and authorities have quickly moved to place strict restrictions on movement and business activity.
Restaurants, cafes, massage parlors and hair salons as well as tourism and religious places have been ordered to remain closed in various areas of the country.