Moscow, (UNI/Sputnik): A new coronavirus Delta strain variant, AY.4.2, has been found in isolated cases in Russia, it is possible that it will spread in the country, Kamil Khafizov, the head of the scientific group for the development of new methods for diagnosing human diseases at Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, said.
Earlier, scientists in the UK announced the spread of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus than the usual Delta strain. According to experts from the Sanger Institute in Cambridge and the Genetics Institute at University College London, the new AY.4.2 variant could be 10-15 per cent more infectious than the usual Delta strain. If these data are confirmed, the variant may become the most infectious since the beginning of the virus spread.
“Yes, the AY.4.2 variant of the Delta line is already being detected in isolated cases in Russia, as follows from the sequencing results of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genomes deposited in the VGARus database. In some circles, the new gene variant is called ‘Delta plus’, but the same name previously referred to a different variant, and therefore there is now some confusion,” Khafizov told reporters
New Covid variant AY.4.2 found in Russia may Spread: Watchdog
