HCM City: COVID-19 patient carries SARS-CoV-2 B117 variant
VOV.VN - A COVID-19 patient detected in Ho Chi Minh City has carried the SARS-CoV-2 B117 variant originating from the UK following viral genome sequencing, according to local doctors.
Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Director of the HCM City Hospital of Tropical Diseases, said researchers of the hospital in collaboration with colleagues from the Oxford University’s Clinical Research Unit (UK) jointly carried out viral genome sequencing from a throat swab of a COVID-19 patient of Hai Duong province and found the result.
The 28-year-old patient, a resident of Hai Duong province, the country’s biggest coronavirus hotpot, attended a wedding in Hai Duong together with a friend who was later confirmed as a COVID-19 patient, before flying to HCM City.
Given the combined results of genome sequencing and epidemiological investigations, it is likely that the fresh coronavirus outbreak in Hai Duong was caused by this type of variant, said Dr. Chau.
SARS-CoV-2 B117 is believed to be more transmissible than previously known variants of SARS-CoV-2. The strain is causing a strong coronavirus outbreak in the United Kingdom as well as other European countries.
The fresh coronavirus outbreak has spread to 10 cities and provinces nationwide since the virus emerged in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh provinces less than a week ago. As many as 270 people have so far been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, mostly in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh. Ho Chi Minh City has registered just one case.
