Vietnam detects hybrid Covid-19 variant: Report
Health minister says Vietnam will release details of the variant to the world soon
HANOI: Vietnam health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday the country has detected a new variant of the coronavirus, a mix of the Indian and UK Covid-19 variants that spreads quickly by air, online newspaper VnExpress reported.
After successfully containing the coronavirus for most of last year, Vietnam is now battling an outbreak that is spreading more quickly. Nearly 3,600 people have been infected in 31 of its 63 cities and provinces since late April, accounting for more than half of the country’s total infections.
“After running gene sequencing on newly detected patients, we have discovered a new variant that is a mix of India and UK ones,” Nguyen Thanh Long was quoted as saying.
“More specifically, it is a variant found in India with mutations that originally belong to the UK variant,” he said.
VnExpress quoted Long as saying Vietnam would announce the newly discovered variant to the world soon.
Vietnam had previously reported seven virus variants: B.1.222, B.1.619, D614G, B.1.1.7 (the UK variant), B.1.351, A.23.1 and B.1.617.2 (variant found in India).
Laboratory cultures of the new variant, which is much more transmissible that 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. The Southeast Asian country has registered 6,396 coronavirus cases so far, with 47 deaths.
Greece unveils digital health certificate
Greece on Friday unveiled its digital health certificate aimed at rebooting the country’s coronavirus-hit tourism sector and part of a wider EU scheme to reopen national borders.
The certificate will be open to
all EU citizens from July 1 at the latest, though Greece will try to start the programme sooner than that, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
The certificate contains a QR code indicating that its holder has been vaccinated, has tested negative for the coronavirus or has immunity after being infected. The EU agreement will prevent member states imposing additional travel restrictions, such as tests or quarantine.
Last week, the European Parliament and EU member states
endorsed the certificate, with commission president Ursula von der Leyen saying it would be “a key element on the way to resuming safe and easy travel across the EU”.
Chinese neighbourhood sees virus upsurge
A neighbourhood in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has been locked down as officials rush to quell an uptick in cases in the area.
The industrial hub north of Hong Kong home to nearly 15 million people has reported 20 new cases of the coronavirus in the past week.
A notice by the Guangzhou municipal health bureau issued on Saturday identified five streets in Liwan district in the city centre as “high-risk areas” and ordered residents to stay indoors until door-to-door testing is completed.
Markets, schools and entertainment venues in the area were shut. The city government has rushed to conduct mass testing and about 700,000 people had been tested by Wednesday.
US movie theatres update mask mandate
Masks are no longer required at the three main movie theatre chains in the United States for people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to updated guidelines on Friday.
AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas said on their websites that movie goers who are not fully vaccinated will be asked to continue wearing masks, and that other social-distancing measures and cleaning protocols will remain in place.