"It is an Indian variant with mutations that originally belong to the UK variant," Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long tells a national meeting on pandemic, adding that the characteristic of this strain is that it spreads quickly in the air.
Vietnam has discovered a new Covid-19 variant which spreads quickly by air and is a combination of the Indian and British strains, state media has reported.
"After running gene sequencing on newly detected patients, we have discovered a new variant that is a mix of India and UK ones," Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long was quoted telling a national meeting on the pandemic on Saturday.
"More specifically, it is an Indian variant with mutations that originally belong to the UK variant," he said.
"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."
Fresh outbreaks
The country is struggling to deal with fresh outbreaks across more than half of its territory including industrial zones and big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
More than 6,700 cases including 47 deaths have been reported in Vietnam – the lion's share have occurred since April.
Health Minister Long did not specify the number of cases recorded with this new variant but said Vietnam will soon announce the discovery in the world's map of genetic strains.
There were seven known coronavirus variants in Vietnam before Long's announcement, according to the Ministry of Health.
Laboratory cultures of the new variant, which is much more transmissible than the previously known types, revealed that the virus replicated itself very quickly, explaining why so many new cases appeared in different locations in a short period, Long was quoted as saying.
New infections trigger strict response
The communist country has previously received widespread applause for its aggressive pandemic response, with mass quarantines and strict contact tracing helping keep infection rates relatively low.
The new round of infections has made the public and government fearful and authorities quickly moved to place strict limits on movement and business activity.
Cafes, restaurants, hair salons and massage parlours as well as tourism and religious spots have been ordered to close in various areas of the country.
Vietnam – a country of 97 million people – has vaccinated a little over a million citizens.
It is now ramping up its jab rollout and hopes to achieve herd immunity by the end of the year, according to the minister for health.
Authorities have called on people and businesses to donate money to help procure vaccines, while embassies and international organisations have been contacted for assistance, state media reported.
The country presently has close to two million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine remaining, but said it is buying more than 30 million doses of the Pfizer shot.
It is also in talks with Russia to produce Sputnik V, according to state media, and is working on a home-grown vaccine.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our journalism free from government and corporate pressure.
0 Comments