Experts say that it is unnecessary to worry about a French new Covid type.
The strain was discovered by virologists before Omicron, but it hasn’t caused any chaos. There are hopes that this may disappear into the background.
There have been at least 12 B.1.640.2 cases spotted near Marseille. The first was linked to Cameroon, an African country.
But it is not outcompeting the dominant Omicron variant, which now makes up 60 per cent of all infections in France.
Dr Thomas Peacock is a London-based virologist and said that the variant had “a decent chance of causing trouble, but never actually materialised”.
Twelve cases were spotted near Marseille. The first was linked to Cameroon, an African country.
Our World in Data reports that France saw an average 2,477 cases per person per day in the last week, while the UK recorded 2,548 for each million.
Twelve cases were spotted in the vicinity of Marseille. The first was linked to Cameroon, an African country. Photo: Saint Jean Castle, Cathedral de la Major, and the at Marseille in France
This strain was uploaded first to the variant-tracking GISAID database on November 4th, more than 2 weeks after Omicron sequenced it.
Over 120,000 Omicron cases were reported since the initial alarm was raised.
Only 12 instances of B.1.640.2 were reported. Data suggests that the real toll could be as high as 20, but it is possible.
Dr Peacock stated that the virus had an opportunity to create trouble, but it never did so.
He said that it was definitely not something to worry about at the moment.
This variant has not been officially identified in any other country or labeled as a variant currently under investigation by World Health Organization.
Professor Francis Balloux of University College London is a geneticist and said that the variant was not associated with an increase in hospitalizations or cases in France. He encouraged people to “relax.”
According to Our World in Data, the average number of cases per person in the country was 2,477 in the past week, as compared with the UK’s 2,548, which is 2,548,
Yesterday’s hospitalizations were 175 per million, as compared with 146 per million for the UK in December 27.
Preprints posted by IHU Mediterranee Illness experts on medRxiv announced the discovery of this variant. The work of the researchers has yet to be published in an academic journal.
Philippe Colson is one of the authors. He said, “We have many cases of this type in Marseille.”
Scientists claim the lineage of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s B.1.640 is genetically distinct. It is believed to have originated in September in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Laboratory tests have shown that the strain is resistant to vaccinations with the E484K mutation.
It also has the N501Y mutation — first seen on the Alpha variant — that some experts believe can make it more transmissible.
Researchers at IHU Mediterranee Infection detected the Covid new variant on December 10, 2010.
It is believed that the mutant strain contains 46 mutations which render it less vaccine-resistant than its stock counterpart.