A medical worker takes samples from a resident for Covid-19 testing. There is no new hybrid variant of the coronavirus in Vietnam at the moment, said a representative of the WHO in Vietnam - PHOTO: VNA
HCMC - There is no new hybrid variant of the coronavirus in Vietnam at this moment, said a World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Vietnam.
The variant recently detected in Vietnam is the Delta variant, with additional mutations, and needs more observation, Kidong Park, WHO representative in Vietnam, told Nikkei Asia on Wednesday. Park also added that the organization needed to monitor the situation over the next couple of weeks.
He said the Delta variant was first detected in India and appeared in other countries.
There has been no alarming alert from WHO, but Park stressed the Delta variant is dangerous as it is highly contagious and spreads very quickly.
Earlier on May 29, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long told a teleconference that the health agency had detected a new coronavirus hybrid formed from the mutation of two variants that first emerged in India and Britain.
The hybrid variant is more easily transmissible than others, Long said, adding that the concentration of the virus in the mucus in the throat increases quickly, so it can spread fast.
As of this evening, June 3, Vietnam had 6,525 domestic Covid-19 cases, with 4,955 reported in 37 cities and provinces in the latest coronavirus wave.