Vietnam discovers a new type of Covid-19 | Vietnam discovers a new type of Covid-19 | The world and science

By AFP

Posted 5/29/2021 1:01 PM

Vietnam has discovered a new type of Covid-19 virus, which will be a mixture of Indian and British variants, government newspapers reported on Saturday.

The news was released as the country faces a new wave of infections in more than half of its territory, including industrial areas and large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

So far, Vietnam has remained relatively protected from the Coronavirus, but most of the 6,700 cases and 47 deaths have been recorded in the country since April.

“We have discovered a hybrid that combines India and Britain,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday at a meeting on the epidemic.

He added, “The main feature of this virus is that it spreads rapidly through the air, and the concentration of viruses in the throat and saliva increases rapidly and spreads very strongly in the surrounding environment.”

The minister did not disclose how many cases of the new variant have been recorded so far, but he said that the country will soon publish the discovery on the world map of the genetic strains.

To date, Vietnam has recorded seven different types of the virus. The country praised its management of the first wave of the epidemic last year, with its widespread adoption of quarantine, in addition to a strict system of diagnosis and isolation.

At this time and given the increase in infection, travel is very limited in the country and places of entertainment and worship are closed in various regions.

Vietnam has a population of 97 million and 1 million people have so far been vaccinated. The authorities want to speed up the pace and achieve collective immunity by the end of the year.