Vietnam's suspicious coronavirus variant not hybrid strain: WHO

A suspicious coronavirus variant detected in Vietnam is part of the existing Delta strain and not a new hybrid mutation, a World Health Organization official said.

The Vietnamese health minister said this week that a coronavirus variant that combined traits of the Indian and UK strains was detected in the Southeast Asian country for the first time.

"There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at this moment based on WHO definition," Kidong Park, the health agency's representative in Vietnam, told the Nikkei newspaper in an interview.

He said that the variant found in Vietnam was the Delta strain with additional mutations and needed more observation. The Delta strain is highly contagious and has spread to other countries.

"This is within the existing [Delta] variant. It is an additional mutation," Park said, adding that "as for now, there is no alarming alert from WHO."

Vietnam had been one of the world's most successful countries in preventing the spread of the virus, but it has reported a surge in cases in late April. It is unclear if the Delta strain is behind the rise in infections. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )

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