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Another variant strain of COVID-19 has been discovered.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Stanford Clinical Virology Lab has discovered a “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus in the Bay Area.
It is the latest variant that has been discovered in the United States after previous strains from the UK, Brazil, and South Africa.
The “double mutant” variant has two mutations that help it latch onto cells which could make it more transmissible. There is also no word on whether the current vaccines would be effective against it.
“It also makes sense that it will be more transmissible from a biological perspective as the two mutations act at the receptor-binding domain of the virus, but there have been no official transmission studies to date,” Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at the University of California – San Francisco, said.
California is currently looking into seven other possible cases.
Be safe out there, folks.
“Double mutant” COVID variant found in the U.S. as fears grow over a fourth wave. @KayleeHartung reports. https://t.co/OxGdcDsCmh pic.twitter.com/8Y7JPYjcHe
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 5, 2021
The coronavirus originated from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 30.7 million confirmed cases and 555,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
