Vietnam’s health minister says new problems include strains that were first identified in the UK and India, and blood tests show that the hybrid virus can spread more easily than other strains of the virus.
Authorities in Vietnam have identified a common type of coronavirus that is found in India and the United Kingdom, said one official.
Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnam’s health minister, told a government meeting on Saturday that scientists had discovered the differences after examining the type of virus that causes some recent illnesses.
“That the new is an Indian revolution and the change that comes from the UK is dangerous,” he said.
Lab tests show that the new strain is more likely to spread than other strains of the virus, the minister said, adding that Vietnam will soon be releasing genetic information on its findings.
Following the outbreak last year, Vietnam is struggling to cope with an increase in the number of cases since the end of April, with more than half of registered cases of 6,856 cases. So far, 47 people have died.
The Southeast Asian country has identified seven types of viruses: B.1.222, B.1.619, D614G, B.1.1.7 – the first type found in the UK, B.1.351, A.23.1 and B.1.617 .2 – the same has been found in India.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified four types of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide. This includes species that were first identified in India, the UK, South Africa, and Brazil.
“So far, we have not detected any other type of virus in Vietnam,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Director at COVID-19.
“Our office is working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and we are looking forward to more soon.”
From the WHO understanding, the variance found in Vietnam was type B.1.617.2, the first known species in India, possibly with some mutations, he said.
“However, we will give you more as soon as we receive it,” Van Kerkhove added.
For a long time, the Ministry of Health in Vietnam, said the changing scientific climate was also emerging more rapidly, perhaps explaining why so many new cases appeared in various parts of the country in such a short time.
The Ministry of Health told the conference that the government was working to secure 10 million vaccines under the COVAX share-price scheme, as well as 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 40 million Sputnik V.
The country of about 98 million people has so far adopted 2.9 million standards and is looking to raise 150 million this year.
Vietnam hopes to achieve animal protection by the end of the year, according to the health minister.
